Legend of the Kokoro
by Kim Dreamcatcher
Summary: (EPISODE 13 UP) A year after defeating the Dynasty, the Ronin Warriors must defeat a new enemy with the help of mysterious spirits known as the kokoro, which are somehow connected to their armor.
1. The Seach Begins

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 1-The Search Begins

"Kento, over here! I'm open!" Cye shouted to his friend, who was being guarded by both Ryo and Sage. Kento threw the ball over their heads to Cye, and before Ryo or Sage could stop him, he leapt toward the basketball hoop and slam-dunked the basketball through the net.

"All right! Way to go, Cye!" Kento cheered, slapping his partner on the back.

Ryo retrieved the ball from the side of the paved driveway and joined Sage, Cye, and Kento at the edge of the driveway. "Okay," he said to them, "the score is tied nine to nine. Next team to score a basket wins, agreed?"

"Agreed."

Ryo started to dribble the ball with Kento guarding him, and Sage and Cye heading to the basket hanging over the garage door. Ryo tried to get past Kento, but he was unsuccessful. Seeing no other option, he passed the ball to Sage. He caught it and threw the ball up toward the net, but it bounced off the hoop.

Cye caught the ball on the rebound and threw it to Kento. Kento dribbled the ball up the half-court, with Ryo on his heels. He threw the ball toward the hoop. The basketball hit the backboard and spun around the edge of the hoop before it went through the net.

"ALL RIGHT!" Kento and Cye yelled as they gave each other high-fives while Ryo and Sage stood by and watched the celebration, totally exhausted.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" The four boys looked up at Rowen, who just came outside and joined them in the front lawn.

"Oh, nothing much," Kento said, grinning mischievously. "Cye and I just kicked Ryo and Sage's butts in basketball, that's all."

"Yeah, right, Kento," Sage said as he grabbed his jacket, which was hanging on a nearby tree. "You two only won by one point!"

Ryo shook his head and turned to Rowen. "Well, what did she say?" he asked Rowen.

"Well, my mom said that it's okay for you guys to spend the night."

The five boys start heading to the front porch when the front door opened. A woman in her mid-thirties stepped out the door and closed it behind her. She had lovely features, chestnut hair, and blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires. She looked very becoming in a two-piece navy blue business suit and black high heels. "Hey, Mom," Rowen said while his friends chorused, "Hello, Mrs. Hashiba."

She smiled at her son and his four friends. "Nice to see you all, again. I'd love to chat, but I've got to be going," Mrs. Hashiba said as she made her way to the garage.

"Where are you going this time?" Rowen asked as he lifted the garage door for his mother.

"Tokyo," she replied. "I have a big business meeting there tomorrow morning, so I'm staying in a hotel tonight in order to avoid the heavy traffic in the morning."

"Good plan, Mom," Rowen said as his mother slipped into the driver's seat of the bright blue car.

As she sat there, she opened her purse, pulled out a couple of twenties, and handed them to Rowen. "Here, you can order pizza for dinner tonight."

"Gee, thanks, Mom," Rowen exclaimed as his mother shut the door and started up the car.

She rolled down the window, gave her son a kiss on the cheek, and said, "Goodbye, Rowen. I should be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Goodbye, Mom. " Rowen stood by and watched as his mother rolled up the window and pulled out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the street. He waved to her as he pulled down the garage door.

Rowen walked back to the front porch, where his friends were waiting for him. When he reached them, Kento, Cye, and Sage started to snicker. "What's so funny?" Rowen asked, puzzled over what his friends were snickering at.

"Umm, Rowen," Ryo started, "you have something on your cheek." Not being able to hold it in anymore, the threesome burst out laughing. Rowen turned red in the face as he wiped off the lipstick that was on his cheek.

Kento was laughing so hard; he was already on the floor of the porch, with his hands on his stomach. "Man, Rowen! You are such a mama's boy!" he barely got out between his spurts of laughter.

Rowen stood over him with a cross look on his face. "Be careful with what you're saying, Kento," he retorted, "because this 'mama's boy' has money for pizza." That remark quieted down Kento, and everybody else. Rowen went inside to order the pizza, followed by Kento and Cye.

Sage walked up to the door and was about to step inside when he noticed Ryo leaning against the rail, looking at the sunset. "Ryo, you coming?"

Ryo turned around and looked at Sage. "You go ahead," Ryo said. "I just need a few minutes to myself, that's all."

Sage stood there for a while, then he went inside, leaving Ryo alone on the porch. He entered the kitchen, where Rowen was on the phone, and Cye and Kento were leaning against the counter. "The name's Hashiba," Rowen said to the person on the other line. "H-A-S-H-I-B-A. All right. Thank you. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and said to the others, "Pizza will be here in half an hour."

"Hey, I got an idea to save us some money," Kento replied, grinning mischievously. "Let's time the delivery guy, and if he's not here in thirty minutes, we'll get the pizza for free."

"Geez, Kento," Cye said, "is food all you think about?"

"And what do you mean by that, Cye?" Kento yelled at him.

"Hey, where's Ryo?" Rowen asked Sage.

"He's still out on the porch," Sage replied. "Said he needed a few minutes to himself."

"Do you have any idea when he'll be finished?"

"I am finished."

The others looked up at Ryo, who was standing in the kitchen doorway. There was silence for a couple of minutes, until Rowen broke the silence. "You know," he started, "we should make some plans for tomorrow. I mean, tomorrow is our last day of summer vacation, then it's back to school for us."

Kento groaned at what Rowen said and put his head down on the counter. "Hey, it's okay, Kento," Cye said reassuringly, patting his friend on the back. "Think of it this way: we only have two more years of high school before it's all done and over with."

Ryo just stood there in the doorway, staring up at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. Sage interrupted his train of thought. "Hey, Ryo. Are you all right? Is there something bothering you?"

"No, nothing's wrong with me," Ryo said. "I was just thinking about Mia, that's all."

Rowen stepped up to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, we all miss her. However, she is an adult. It was her decision."

"Yeah, I know," Ryo responded, "but selling the house and moving all the way to California?" He broke out of Rowen's grasp and walked further into the kitchen.

"Don't forget, Ryo," Sage said, "Mia had good reasons. First, she lost her grandfather. Second, she probably could not stand living in that huge place by herself. And third, she needed a fresh start."

"You know," Cye said slowly, "there is a slight problem about Mia moving that we should consider. What if the Ronin Warriors are needed once again to protect the mortal world?"

"Get real, Cye," Kento retorted. "We defeated Talpa and the evil Dynasty less than a year ago. They're not coming back."

"I know that, but there could be other evil forces out there. If that happens, we'll need the info Mia's grandfather left behind."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that, Cye." The four boys looked at Rowen, who had a smug look on his face.

"What do you mean, Rowen?" Ryo asked.

"Remember the day when Mia left?" Rowen started. "We all came over to say goodbye to her and she gave me those disks? Well, in case you're wondering, those disks contained hard copies on the entire research Mia's grandfather gathered. I downloaded all of Dr. Koji's research in my laptop. If we need to know anything about our armors or anything connected to them, I can just look up the information."

Just then, the front doorbell rang. "All right! Pizza's here!" Kento shouted.

"Gee, you think so?" Cye asked sarcastically as Rowen got up and walked to the front door.

"Hey, guys," he shouted back to them, "could you get out some paper plates and cups? They're in the cabinet next to the refrigerator."

"Sure thing, Rowen," Sage said as he opened the cabinet door and pulled out the plates and cups, while Kento grabbed a bottle of soda from the refrigerator.

Rowen reentered the kitchen a few minutes later, with two pizza boxes in his hands. He laid them on the counter, opened them up, and grabbed himself a plate. Each boy took two slices of pizza, except for Kento, who grabbed three slices. After taking a cup of soda, the five boys headed toward the living room. Ryo, Sage, and Rowen sat down on the sofa and placed their food on the coffee table in front of them, while Cye and Kento took their seats on the floor.

Rowen picked up a TV guide from the table started to flip through it. "Anything good on?" Sage asked him.

"Nothing so far," Rowen responded slowly as he skimmed through the pages. "Wait! Batman is starting in a few minutes on Channel Five."

"Aww, man," Kento groaned. "I hope it's not the one based on that stupid old TV series!"

"Don't worry, Kento," Rowen said. "This Batman movie is the one 'starring Jack Nicholson as the villainous Joker, and featuring Michael Keaton's dual role as the millionaire-playboy Bruce Wayne and Batman.' " He picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and changed the channel to Channel Five. Just then, the famous Warner Brothers symbol appeared on the screen.

As the opening credits started, Kento said, "Why don't we make some popcorn?"

"Kento, not now," Cye whispered to him. "We still have this pizza to eat first."

"Yeah," Rowen whispered. "If you still want popcorn later, then make some. Now, be quiet." Everyone quieted down as the movie started...

About two hours later, the segment of Batman standing on top of the building with the Bat signal shining in the dark night sky ended, and the movie credits started to roll. Rowen turned off the TV, stretched his arms out, and yawned. He looked at the digital clock on the VCR, which read eleven PM. "Oh, man, it's late," Rowen muttered to himself. He looked down at the floor, where Kento and Cye were already sprawled out, fast asleep. "Hey, Sage, Ryo," he whispered loudly to his friends, who were still half- awake, at least.

"What is it, Rowen?" Sage asked.

"Listen, since you two are the only ones still awake, you get to choose," Rowen whispered. "Who wants to sleep on the rollaway bed in my room? The other choice would be the sofa."

"Sage can have the rollaway," Ryo whispered. "I'll take the sofa."

"Okay, then. Good night, Ryo."

"Good night, Rowen, Sage."

As Ryo settled down on the sofa, he heard Sage whisper to Rowen, "That Kim Basinger, she's quite a knockout. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Rowen muttered, talking as though he was half- asleep. Ryo chuckled quietly to himself as he closed his eyes and went to sleep...

_Ryo was inside Mt. Fuji, wearing his full Wildfire armor. He was meditating on a jagged ledge, overlooking the massive pool of lava. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from the lava. He opened his eyes and stood up. Ryo cautiously drew out his twin katanas from their holsters and stood ready to battle whatever demon would emerge from the lava pool. _

He put his katanas away and watched carefully as a series of bubbles led toward the edge of the lava pool. Slowly, but surely, a massive ball of fire emerged from the molten rock, followed by a pair of legs. Ryo realized that the fire was in reality the creature's hair.

Just then, the creature slowly turned its head toward Ryo. Ryo gasped at what he saw. The creature was a female, wearing a red dress with the skirt ending below her knees and the sleeves ending at her elbows. The edges of the sleeves and the skirt were all jagged. Her pale white skin glowed from the heat of the volcano. What caught Ryo's attention the most were the creature's eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of red he ever seen, and they shone like two pieces of burning coal. The creature's eyes also appeared to be pleading, asking Ryo for help.

That's when he heard the voice call out to him. "Help me," a haunting feminine voice pleaded to him. Ryo noticed that the creature's lips did not move, yet there was no one else inside the volcano. "Help me, please," the voice called to him again. Ryo looked down at the creature, which looked up at him with her pleading red eyes. He slowly and cautiously made his way down to where the creature stood. As Ryo got closer to her, he felt more attracted toward the fire creature.

When he was only about ten feet away from the creature, he stopped for a minute. "Wait a minute," he thought to himself. "How do I know that I'm not walking into a trap?"

As though the creature read his mind, the voice responded, "Please help me, Ryo of Wildfire. You're the only one who can."

Ryo looked up at the creature, into her pleading ruby-red eyes, and realized that she was being truthful. He continued walking toward her until they were about a foot apart from each other. The creature extended her pale, delicate hand to Ryo. He tried to take her hand, but before he could, her hand faded away. He looked into the creature's eyes: they were no longer pleading for help, but were replaced by a bewildered, frightened look. Ryo tried to touch the creature's face, but the creature completely faded away. He looked around the volcano, but she was nowhere in sight. "NOOO!"

Ryo sprung up from the sofa in a cold sweat. He realized that what he experienced was just a dream, but it felt so real to him. He looked down at the floor, where Kento was still sleeping. Ryo got up and went into the bathroom, where he changed into a red sweater and jeans. He walked through the living room and into the kitchen, where Cye was preparing breakfast. "Good morning, Ryo."

He looked at Sage, fully dressed and sitting at the edge of the counter. "Hey, Sage," Ryo said as he took a seat next to him. "Where's Rowen?"

"Still asleep," Sage responded. "Figured I'd let him sleep late, since this is going to be one of the last times he gets to sleep in late before school starts."

Ryo chuckled as he turned toward Cye, who was at the stove. "So, what's our chef preparing for breakfast today?"

"Scrambled eggs, toast, ham, and orange juice," he answered as he removed a pot from the stove and emptied the contents into a small bowl. He placed the bowl, which contained scrambled eggs, on the counter, next to the plate of golden brown toast and the pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice. "I strongly suggest that you eat your fill now," Cye told them, "before you- know-who wakes up."

Sage and Ryo laughed as they grabbed some paper plates and filled them up with food. As they poured themselves some orange juice, Cye returned his attention to the stove, where several pieces of ham were sizzling in a frying pan.

Sage was eating some of his eggs when he looked up at Ryo, who was just picking at his food with his fork. "Hey, Ryo, what's eating you?" he asked Ryo.

"Nothing," he answered. "It's just that, well. I had this strange dream last night. It was so bizarre, yet it felt so real."

"Care to tell us about it?" Sage said as Cye set a plate of cooked ham on the counter and sat down.

"Well, I was inside Mt. Fuji, wearing the armor of Wildfire," Ryo started. "I heard a strange noise and I saw this strange-looking creature emerge from the lava. She was wearing a red dress, had fire for hair, and these burning red eyes. She was asking me to help her, but when I approached her, she disappeared into thin air. But the strangest part was that, for some strange reason, I felt... attracted toward her." Ryo looked up at his friends. Both Sage and Cye were staring at him oddly, with their eyes wide open. "What's wrong, guys? Sage? Cye?" Ryo asked them.

"Ryo," Sage started, "both Cye and I had strange dreams similar to what you just described. In my dream, I was in the forest, and the creature I saw was wearing a green dress, had green hair with several wildflowers in it, and these sparkling emerald green eyes."

"And in my dream," Cye added, "I was at the beach, and the creature I saw was wearing a light blue dress, had long ocean blue hair, and these brilliant aquamarine blue eyes." The three boys sat in silence for a minute, each taking in the information they shared.

"I wonder," Ryo thought aloud, "if Kento and Rowen had strange dreams like ours?"

"You bet we did," Rowen answered. Ryo, Sage, and Cye looked at Rowen standing in the doorway, with Kento standing behind him.

As they entered the kitchen, Ryo said, "Let me guess. In both of your dreams, you were near the element that powers up your armor. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Rowen said as he took a seat at the end of the counter. "In my dream, I was standing up in the clouds, and Kento told me that he was out in the desert."

"And I'll bet that in your dream," Sage addressed to Rowen, "the creature you saw wore a dark blue dress, and had the same color hair and eyes."

"Yeah, and she also had these massive white wings, kind of like an angel would," Rowen added.

"And in your case," Cye said to Kento as he was fixing himself a plate of food, "the creature wore an orange dress, and had orange hair and eyes."

"Well, not exactly," Kento said as he took a seat next to Cye. "She wasn't wearing a dress; it was more like a top and pants with a wrap, and her hair was up in an Afro."

They were all silent for a moment, until Cye wondered aloud, "Do you suppose that maybe these dreams we had were a sign of some sort? Maybe they mean that the Ronin Warriors will be needed once again to protect the mortal world."

"That could be possible," Rowen responded, "but if so, what about those strange creatures? How would they play a role into this?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the front door. "Must be your mom," Ryo said to Rowen.

"I don't think so," Rowen replied as he got up. "She's not supposed to be home until this afternoon." He went to the door as the others finished eating breakfast and threw away the paper plates. A few minutes later, Rowen came back in the kitchen with a brown package in his hands.

"What is it?" Sage asked Rowen as he placed the package on the counter.

"I don't know," he said as he glanced at the return address, "but I do know who sent the package: Mia Koji." The others crowded around Rowen while he ripped off the brown wrapping paper and opened the box.

Inside were a small antique chest and a small white envelope with all of the boys' names written on it. Rowen picked up the envelope, ripped it open, and pulled out a letter. "Well, what does it say?" Ryo asked, growing a bit impatient.

"Hold on," Rowen said. "I'm getting to it. 'Hi, guys! Sorry I took so long to write to you, but I just finished unpacking my stuff today. I like my new house. It's kind of small, compared to my grandfather's house, but I don't necessarily need a lot of space. Anyway, I've enclosed a small chest that belonged to my grandfather. I found something inside the chest that I feel is somehow connected to the Ronin armors. You'll see what I mean when you look inside. So long, and take care of yourselves. Best wishes to you all, Mia Koji.' "

Rowen laid the letter down on the counter and pulled the chest out of the box. The box was made from cherry-wood, and exquisitely carved with delicate vines and strange-looking symbols. Rowen cautiously lifted the lid and placed it next to the open chest. The five boys looked inside the chest and gasped at what they saw. Resting in five out of six separate carved inserts were five small gold rings. Each ring was set with a different color stone and had a different Japanese symbol etched into the stone.

The first ring had a ruby, and etched into the stone was the symbol for "Virtue." The second ring had an emerald, and etched into the stone was the symbol for "Wisdom." The third ring had an aquamarine, and etched into the stone was the symbol for "Trust." The fourth ring had a topaz, and etched into the stone was the symbol for "Justice." The fifth ring had a sapphire, and etched into the stone was the symbol for "Life."

Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento and Rowen each removed their ring in order to examine them more closely. "I can't believe this," Ryo muttered, "these rings match up to each of us perfectly."

"Only one problem, Ryo," Kento said. Ryo, Sage and Cye looked at him as Kento demonstrated by attempting to place the ring on his little finger. The ring would only go halfway down his finger before it got stuck. As Kento struggled to remove the ring, the three boys tried to put the rings on and also discovered the same thing: they were too small. They were able the remove the rings much easier than Kento did.

As he finally pried the ring off, the foursome noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Rowen?" Sage asked.

"Right here," he answered. The others watched as Rowen reentered the kitchen with his laptop in one hand. He opened up the laptop and turned it on.

As he pulled out a small drawer from the side of the laptop, Cye asked, "What are you doing, Rowen?"

"I'm going to check out the info that I downloaded from those disks Mia gave me, and see if I can find anything on these rings," Rowen answered as he removed a small mouse from the drawer and plugged it in. He sat down at the counter and began to type furiously on the laptop. "Okay, I brought up the files," he explained, "and I'm now cross-referencing 'Ronin Warriors' with 'rings.' In a few moments, we should see some results."

Rowen sat back from the laptop for a moment while the program searched through its files. A page appeared on the screen, covered with strange writings. "Can you actually read that stuff?" Kento asked Rowen as he leaned back forward to read the text.

"Of course, Kento," he said as he read the writings. "Hey, guys. Listen to this!" he exclaimed as he began to read out loud. " 'Over a thousand years ago, when Talpa was defeated, the Ancient called upon the kokoro to assist him with the five Ronin armors'."

"What are the kokoro?" Sage asked.

"I've heard about them before," Ryo answered. "The kokoro are spiritual beings that control the basic elements: fire, earth, air, water, spirit, and even death."

"That's absolutely correct, Ryo," Rowen said. "There's more. 'The call was answered by five kokoro, each containing the power of fire, earth, air, water, and spirit. They assisted the Ancient in creating the five Ronin armors, and even molded the weapons for the five armors'."

"I can't believe it," Kento blurted out. "I thought our weapons originally came with our armor."

"Quiet, Kento," Cye said.

" 'In order for the Ronin armors to absorb energy from the elements'," Rowen continued, " 'the kokoro had to sacrifice themselves. Until the ones chosen to wear the Ronin armors were born, the spirits of the kokoro would rest inside the armors. When the chosen ones are born, their corresponding kokoro would be released from the armor and be reborn as a mortal'."

"Okay," Ryo said, "but what about these rings?"

"I was getting to that part," Rowen replied. " 'According to legend, when the kokoro bonded with the five Ronin armors, they left behind five rings. Each ring bore a kokoro's corresponding kanji: Virtue, Wisdom, Trust, Justice, and Life'."

"Is that it?" Sage asked.

"That's all," Rowen said, "but I could check to see if I can find any more info on these kokoro." He started to type quickly for a few minutes, then he stopped. "I can't find any more info on the kokoro. Perhaps Dr. Koji didn't do much research on this link."

"Are you sure about that, Rowen?" Kento said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, if Dr. Koji did any more research on the kokoro, the answers we're looking for could be at the university."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ryo exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"All right, then," Rowen said, closing his laptop. "Just give me a minute to put this away." He left the kitchen while the others put on their shoes. A couple of minutes later, Rowen returned to the kitchen. Together, the five boys left the house. Rowen, the last one to leave, locked the door and placed the key back in his pocket. He joined the others and, together, they walked down the street.

For a few minutes, they were all silent, each going over the information on the kokoro. Cye broke the silence by saying what was on everyone's mind: "Hey, guys, do you suppose that those creatures we saw in our dreams are, in actuality, the kokoro?"

Before anyone could respond, a massive beam of violet light shone down on the five young men. "What's going on!" Ryo yelled as he struggled to get out of the light's path.

"I can barely move!" Cye cried out as he kneeled down on the ground.

"Come on, guys! Don't give in!" Ryo shouted at his friends, although he knew that they couldn't get out.

"Ryo!" Rowen shouted at him. "Let's try using the armor! With it on, we may be able to withstand this pressure!"

"All right! Ronins to arms!" Ryo yelled as the five of them transformed into their sub-armor. Unfortunately, it didn't help them out, since the light beam had too strong of a hold on them. One by one, the Ronin Warriors collapsed from the intense pressure to the ground. When the last warrior passed out, the massive beam of light disappeared, along with the Ronin Warriors...

In a dark, spacious room, which appeared to be some sort of elaborate fighting arena, the massive violet light appeared again, depositing the unconscious Ronin Warriors on the floor before disappearing. From the shadows emerged quite an unusual creature. He resembled a troll dressed in black clothes with a black trench coat, with hideous features, slimy gray skin, stringy white hair, and piercing yellow cat's eyes looking over a bulbous nose. He quickly walked hunchbacked to the five warriors.

As the creature approached Ryo, he knelt down and removed a small jar from his coat. He plucked a strand of hair off of Ryo's head, placed it in the jar, and put it back in his coat. He did the same thing with Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen until he had a strand of hair from each Ronin Warrior.

As he carefully placed the last jar, containing a strand of Rowen's hair, into his jacket, a deep female voice from the other side of the room said, "Devaki!"

The creature nearly jumped as he got up and said nervously, "Y-yes, Lady Dulcea?"

"Do you have the necessary specimens?"

"Yes, my lady," Devaki answered as he opened his jacket to reveal the five small jars.

The voice chuckled evilly as she said, "Excellent. Now, get to work! Leave the Ronin Warriors to me."

"Yes, I'll get on it right away," Devaki said as he quickly bowed and hurried out of the room.

Shortly after that, the Ronin Warriors started to come out of it. Ryo slowly got up and held his head. "Oh, man," he muttered. "What happened?" He watched as the others got up.

"Man, did anyone get the license off the truck that hit us?" Kento asked.

"I've got a better question," Rowen said as he looked around. "Where are we?"

The others looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. From the walls hung tapestries and ancient Japanese swords and weapons. Four sconces were attached to either wall, each containing three unlit candles. The floor was designed like some sort of fighting arena, with strange lines painted on it. All the way on the other side of the room was a large throne. There was a figure sitting there, whom the Ronin Warriors didn't notice right away.

The Ronins heard an evil chuckle, and they turned toward the throne and saw the figure sitting there. "So... the Ronin Warriors, I presume."

"Yeah, that's us," Ryo admitted. "And who are you?"

Suddenly, all the candles on the sconces mysteriously lit up. Two torches on either side of the throne also lit up, along with the sconces. The throne was exquisitely carved from ebony, with small gargoyles and other demoniac figures. The Ronins gasped at what they saw sitting in the throne.

Although the figure was obviously a beautiful young lady, she didn't appear to be human in origin. She was wearing a black dress with transparent sleeves, and a long skirt with slits going halfway up both sides. Her ghastly pale face was framed by her straight orchid hair, which fell down to her waist. Her dark violet eyes stared at the Ronin Warriors, filled with anger and hatred.

Ryo repeated his original question: "Who are you?"

The mysterious young lady continued staring at the Ronins as she responded, "I am Dulcea, Princess of Darkness."

"What are you doing here, Dulcea?" Rowen asked.

She chuckled evilly as she said, "I was sent here to conquer your world."

"And who sent you?" Sage asked.

"That information is nothing for the likes for you be concerned with," Dulcea responded coldly.

"If you're going to conquer this world," Kento said boldly, "you'll have to go through us first."

"Very well, then, if you insist," Dulcea stated as she closed her eyes. A radiating violet glow engulfed her body as she levitated off her throne and landed a few feet away. The glow disappeared, and Dulcea opened her eyes and stared at the Ronins, who were shocked at what they just witnessed.

"Did you guys see that!" Cye gasped, still in shock.

"She possesses some sort of telekinetic powers," Rowen said. "We better be careful around her. We don't know how powerful she is."

"It doesn't matter," Ryo said. "The odds are in our favor. There's five of us and only one of her."

"Are you sure of that, Ryo of Wildfire?"

The Ronins looked at Dulcea and realized that there were at least ten 'Dulceas' surrounding them. "How did she do that?" Sage asked dreadfully.

"It's an illusion," Ryo reminded his friends, "just like Dais' 'Web of Deception'."

"How are we going to fight this?" Cye asked Ryo.

"By using the Ronin armors, that's how," he answered. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!"

"Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"

"Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

"Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!"

"Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!"

After the Ronin Warriors finished transforming into their armor, the images of Dulcea disappeared until only the real Dulcea remained. "I must say," she admitted, "your armor is more impressive than what I expected. Still, it won't help you. Remember, you're on my turf now." Her eyes glowed as she smiled evilly at the Ronin Warriors.

"We're not afraid of you, Dulcea!" Ryo yelled as he brought his twin katanas together and raised them above his head. "FLARE UP NOW!" Ryo cried out as he brought down his weapons and sent a massive beam of blazing white light at Dulcea. Her eyes glowed, and the beam stopped a few feet from her, as though it struck an invisible force field. "I can't believe it," Ryo said in disbelief. "She deflected my attack!"

"Chill, Ryo, I got her!" Kento said, stepping forward. "IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" He twirled around his naginata and brought it down to the ground, sending tremendous jagged slabs of rock straight at her. Dulcea's eyes glowed, and like before, the rocks stopped a few feet away from her. "Aww, man!" Kento groaned.

"Let me try," Sage said. "She might have been able to deflect two attacks, but as they say, third time's the charm." He lifted up his sword over his head and cried out, "THUNDER BOLT CUT!" A gigantic bolt of lightning emerged from Sage's sword and headed straight toward Dulcea. She snickered evilly as she put up her hand and sent the bolt of lightning back at Sage. The blast from his own attack knocked Sage against the back wall hard.

"Sage!" Ryo yelled as they watched him fall to the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that, Dulcea!" Rowen shouted at Dulcea.

"Yeah, let's see if you can handle two Ronin Warriors at once," Cye boldly shouted as he steadied his trident and Rowen set an arrow on his bow.

"ARROW SHOCK WAVE!"

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

The blazing arrow, combined with the blast of water, headed straight for Dulcea. She put up her hand, and like before, sent the attacks right back at Cye and Rowen. Like Sage before, they were both knocked hard against the back wall from the force of their attacks.

As they fell to the ground, Kento and Sage ran to them, and helped them up. "Rowen! Cye! Are you two all right?" a concerned Kento asked.

"We're just fine, Kento," Rowen said as he slowly got up with Sage's help.

"She's pretty powerful," Cye said as Kento helped him up. "I don't know if we can defeat her."

"It's about time you realized the truth, Ronin Warriors." They looked up at Dulcea, who was slowly walking toward them. "There's no way you could possibly defeat me, so I'm willing to make a proposition with you. I will spare your lives if you all agree to join forces with me in the conquest of Earth."

"No way!" Ryo said loudly.

"Have it your way," Dulcea said coldly as she stretched her hand out and slowly closed it into a fist. As she did this, the Ronin Warriors felt as though invisible hands were trying to strangle them. Dulcea smiled evilly as she slowly continued to strangle the Ronins.

Suddenly, a massive beam of white light engulfed the Ronin Warriors. Dulcea stepped back and shielded her eyes from the blinding white light. The Ronin Warriors completely exhausted from lack of air, collapsed to the ground as the white light vanished, taking the Ronins along with it.

Dulcea placed her arm back down and looked at the spot where the warriors once stood. "You might have saved them this time, old man," she muttered, "but you won't be able to save them the next time we meet." She chuckled wickedly as she turned around and headed back toward her throne...

Meanwhile, in a small clearing out in the forest, the massive white light reappeared, deposited the Ronin Warriors, who were back in their normal clothes, on the ground, and disappeared. Ryo was the first to wake up. He stood up and looked around at his surroundings as he tried to piece together all that had happened. He heard some moans and realized that the others were waking up.

"Man, what happened," Sage asked, "and why aren't we still wearing our armor?"

"That's strange," Rowen replied as he got up. "I don't remember any of us removing our armor."

"The last thing I remember," Cye said as Kento helped him to his feet, "was that we were fighting Dulcea, and she nearly killed us all."

"Yeah, but the important question is: Who saved us, and why?" Ryo said, looking up at the sky.

"I can answer that for you, Ryo of Wildfire," an unfamiliar man's voice replied. The five boys turned around and looked in the direction the strange voice came from. From the edge of the woods emerged a tall figure wearing a white cloak and hood, which concealed his face. He carried a long wooden staff in his right hand. The staff was coiled like a serpent, with a clear crystal ball resting on the top.

"Who are you?" Ryo demanded to know from the figure.

He pulled back the hood, revealing his face to the five boys. His long white hair rested on his broad shoulders. A pair of bright cerulean blue eyes glanced at them from a youthful face. In a way, the young man reminded the boys of the Ancient. He stepped forward, bowed to them, and said, "I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro."

"So, you're the one responsible for saving us?" Rowen asked.

"Yes. It was necessary for me to remove you from Dulcea's domain," Shuno answered. "She's much more powerful there."

"So, that why she brought us there," Sage said.

"That is correct, Sage of Halo," Shuno responded.

"Shuno, could you tell us about the kokoro and how they're connected to our armor?" Ryo asked. "There are some things that we're not exactly sure of."

"Of course, I will." Shuno held his staff above his head, and the crystal started to glow. The light illuminating from the crystal continued to grow brighter and brighter until the five boys were nearly blinded. They held up their arms in order to shield their eyes from the light.

As soon as the light appeared, it disappeared just as quickly. The five boys opened their eyes and were shocked at their surroundings. The forest was gone; there was nothing but packed, dried up, caked earth as far as the eye could see. Not far from where they were standing was the ocean, but it was dark, almost black, in color. Although the sun was up, the sky was dark and tinted with a red haze.

Ryo noticed several distant figures heading in their direction. "Hey, guys," he said to the others. "Look over there!"

Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen looked in the direction he was pointing and recognized the army of soldiers and flying spirits. "The Dynasty!" they cried out simultaneously.

"All right! It's party time!" Kento shouted out enthusiastically.

"Stop!" The five warriors looked at Shuno, who was watching the army of Dynasty soldiers and Nether spirits.

"Stop? What do you mean, stop?" Kento asked.

"What you are witnessing are events that have occurred nearly a thousand years ago," Shuno explained. "Even if you were to try, you would not be able to change the past."

The guys stood by and watched as Talpa's army advanced toward them. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came down and struck one of the Dynasty soldiers. He fell off his horse onto the ground, but it didn't slow down the army. More Dynasty soldiers were struck down by lightning. The wind picked up to a howling gust and literally blew away the Nether spirits. The earth split in many different places and swallowed several Dynasty soldiers, horses and all.

"What we're witnessing," Cye asked, "is that the powers of the kokoro at work?"

Shuno nodded yes as the earth spewed up pockets of red-hot magma. This unexpected occurrence startled the horses and knocked their riders into the boiling pools of lava, and as a result, they melted. Suddenly, a fifty-foot tsunami rose from the ocean and crashed down on top of the remaining army, sweeping dozens of Dynasty soldiers to the murky depths of the ocean. The few soldiers that remained retreated from the battlefield.

"Wait a minute," Ryo said. "Why didn't we see any of the kokoro?"

"The kokoro are spirits," Shuno replied, "and are not frequently seen by mortals. We only reveal ourselves in times of dire need."

The crystal on his staff glowed again, and the battlefield disappeared to reveal a small temple out in the woods. "This is a few weeks after the final battle with Talpa," Shuno explained to the five warriors. The boys then noticed a familiar figure kneeling just outside the temple, praying in Japanese.

"It's the Ancient!" Ryo exclaimed.

Suddenly, wisps of six different colored smokes rolled in at the Ancient's feet. He stood up as the smoke took the shape of six figures. When the figures were whole, the five boys were in shock. Five them were recognized from their dreams, but what shocked them the most was that the kokoro of death was Dulcea!

"What is Dulcea doing there?" Sage asked, still in shock.

"Dulcea is, or was, one of us," Shuno said slowly.

The kokoro that Ryo recognized stepped up to the Ancient and said, "What do you wish of us, O Ancient one?"

"Come inside, and I will explain everything." He walked into the temple, with the six kokoro following close behind. Shuno stepped up to the temple entrance and indicated for the others to join him.

They approached the door and looked inside. Propped up against the wall were the five Ronin armors. "I wish for these five armors to possess the powers of nature," the Ancient explained to the kokoro, "but in order for that to happen..."

"You would need assistance from us," finished the kokoro from Kento's dream.

The kokoro from Rowen's dream stepped closer to better examine the Ronin armors. "These armors," she started, "they are... incomplete. They have no weapons." 0

"That's not a problem," claimed the kokoro from Sage's dream. The kokoro held their hands forward, and weapons mysteriously appeared into their hands.

"The swords of Wildfire," the kokoro of fire said, holding up the twin katanas, "forged from the eternal flame of the mighty volcano."

"The sword of Halo," the kokoro of spirit said, "forged from lightning and purified with the rays of the sun."

"The trident of Torrent, forged from the swirling salt waters of the great whirlpools," the kokoro of water said.

"The naginata of Hardrock, forged from the sands of the deserts," the kokoro of earth said.

"The bow and arrows of Strata," the kokoro of air said, holding a bow in one hand and a quiver full of arrows in the other, "forged from the clouds in the sky."

The kokoro placed the new weapons with the corresponding Ronin armor. The kokoro of fire turned toward the Ancient and said, "We know these weapons are not enough. In order to imbue these armors with the powers of the elements, we must allow our spirits to rest inside the armors, but only until the chosen ones are born."

"Yes, I understand," the Ancient said, looking at the kokoro of death, "but what about her?"

"Her spirit will rest in this urn," the kokoro of water said, holding up a large and decorative oriental urn. "It is necessary not to disrupt the cosmic balance."

She placed the urn at Dulcea's feet and opened the lid. Dulcea's body took the form of a small glowing violet sphere, and the sphere went inside the urn. After she was inside, the kokoro of water sealed the urn with the lid.

The remaining kokoro approached the Ronin armor, placed a hand on the helmets, closed their eyes, and concentrated. One by one, a strange glow emerged from underneath their hands, and one by one, they removed their hands from the helmets. For a few moments, the five boys saw the kanjis of Virtue, Wisdom, Trust, Justice, and Life shining on the helmets of the Ronin armors before they disappeared.

Like Dulcea before them, the remaining kokoro took the forms of five small glowing spheres (red, green, light-blue, orange, and dark blue). The glowing spheres slowly rose up into the air and entered the Ronin armors. What were left behind, where the kokoro once stood, were six rings. The Ancient picked up the rings and carefully placed them inside a small wooden chest.

The crystal on Shuno's staff glowed once again, and the five boys were back in the wooded area, where they first encountered Shuno. "I'm sure that you have many questions to ask me," Shuno said as he took a seat on an old tree trunk, "and I will answer them all."

"If Dulcea is a kokoro," Sage asked, "then why is she fighting against us?"

"Unfortunately, Dulcea's mind has been manipulated by a great evil, Sage of Halo."

"I'm curious," Rowen said, "about those rings. What's their purpose?"

"The rings were formed to be used as a temporary power source, Rowen of Strata, until their true power from within is awakened." He stood up and said, "I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I must be going."

As Shuno started to leave, Ryo shouted, "Shuno, wait! How are we going to find the kokoro?"

Shuno turned around and looked at Ryo as he responded, "Do not worry, Ryo of Wildfire. The kokoro will come to you. The rings you have will indicate their presence to you, and also, their mortal identities. For now, farewell." The five boys watched as Shuno walked through the forest and disappeared from sight...TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Looks Can Be Deceiving

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 2-Looks Can Be Deceiving

The very day that Kento and the others, well, except for Rowen, were dreading had finally arrived: the first day of school. Ryo, Kento, and Cye were waiting outside the main entrance of Han'a High School for Rowen, while Sage was busy chatting with some girls. The five boys decided yesterday that, until they find the kokoro, they would wear the rings on chains around their necks.

"I can't believe it," Cye muttered out of disbelief. "Rowen's gonna be late for the first day of school."

"Well, what do you expect?" Kento replied. "He's always been late for school. What made you think this year's gonna be any different?"

"Well, Rowen's probably the only one who was looking forward to the first day of school," Cye responded.

"Look, there he is!" Kento shouted. There was Rowen, running down the street leading to Han'a High. When he reached the main entrance, he stopped to catch his breath.

Sage managed to break away from the girls when he saw Rowen breathing in heavily. He walked over to Rowen, gave him a gentle slap on the back, and said, "Late for the first day, Rowen? And I thought you were looking so forward to the first day of school."

After taking in one more gulp of air, Rowen stood up and replied, "I couldn't help it. I forgot to set my alarm last night."

"Yeah, right, Rowen," Kento teased. "The alarm's not the problem. You always oversleep on schooldays."

"Maybe you ought to consider getting a louder alarm clock," Cye suggested.

Ryo wasn't paying attention to what the guys were saying. He was lost in his own thoughts. _Man, a lot has happened to us in the past couple of days,_ Ryo thought to himself. _First those strange dreams, then those rings, then that fight with Dulcea, and there's also Shuno. Now, we need to concentrate on finding the kokoro before Dulcea strikes again._

"Hey, Ryo! Come on, snap out of it!" Cye shouted, interrupting Ryo's train of thought. "Come on, we gotta get going, or we'll be late for homeroom."

The first bell rang, indicating that everyone who wasn't in homeroom had five minutes to get there. The five guys, along with everyone else who was still outside, ran inside and went their separate ways...

Ryo was sitting inside his homeroom, trying to block out the typical noises of homeroom: kids talking to each other and laughing, others throwing paper airplanes and spit balls at the other kids. The noise ceased as the teacher entered the room. "Good morning, class," she said as she placed her books on her desk and sat down.

"Good morning, Mrs. Rose," the students chorused.

"Before I take attendance for today, I have an announcement to make," Mrs. Rose said. "We have a new student joining us this morning. In a minute or so, Principal Hiroshi will escort her here. Now, I expect you all to be on your best behavior and make her feel welcome at Han'a High School."

Just then, the door opened, and a tall, skinny man entered the room. He wore a navy blue suit and a red tie. His hair was black, with a noticeable bald spot at the top. "Good morning, Mr. Hiroshi," Mrs. Rose and the students said.

"Good morning, Mrs. Rose, students," Mr. Hiroshi greeted. "I'm certain that your teacher has told you about the new student. Please welcome Miss Rita Niitsu."

A slender sixteen-year-old girl slowly entered the room, wearing a backpack and carrying a metal cane in one hand, which she swung back and forth repeatedly. Her long jet-black hair ran down her back and ended at her waist. She wore a short-sleeve red sweater, black shorts, red knee socks and black shoes. When she looked up at the class, Ryo realized her handicap from her eyes: they were clouded over.

"As most of you can probably tell," Mr. Hiroshi explained, "Miss Niitsu is visually impaired. I would appreciate it if you can take your time to assist Miss Niitsu around today. Good day to you all." With that, the principal left the room, leaving Rita standing in front of the class.

Mrs. Rose got up from her desk and stepped up to Rita. "Don't worry, Rita," she said, placing a hand on Rita's shoulder, "we'll help you out in any way possible."

Just then, the bell rang, ending homeroom. As the students got up from the desks, Mrs. Rose announced, "Hold it, everyone! No one's leaving until I get a volunteer to help Miss Niitsu get to her classes." A vast majority of the students groaned when they heard this news.

"I'll help her, Mrs. Rose," Ryo volunteered.

"Thank you, Mr. Sanada," his teacher said. "You are all dismissed."

All the students left, except for Ryo, Rita, and the homeroom teacher. Mrs. Rose felt Rita's shoulder quiver slightly. "I assure you, Rita," she said, "Ryo Sanada is a perfect gentleman." Ryo turned red at the comment as Mrs. Rose escorted the two out into the hallway.

As they walked down the hall, Ryo asked, "So, Rita, what class do you have first period?"

Rita stopped, pulled a sheet of paper covered with series of bumps out of a folder, and ran her finger over the first line of bumps. " 'Introduction to World Literature'," she read, "in room 213."

"I have the same class," Ryo mentioned as they headed down the hall toward class...

Meanwhile, in room 213, students gathered into the classroom and took their seats. Among the students were Sage and Kento. "Are you sure Ryo has this class with us?" Kento asked Sage as they took two desks next to each other.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sage reassured his anxious friend. "I saw his class schedule this morning, and it said his first class was 'Introduction to World Literature' in room 213, the exact class we're in right now."

Just then, they saw Ryo enter the room, followed by a pretty young girl. "Wow, who's the new girl?" Kento asked Sage, who knew every girl who attended Haná High.

"I don't know," Sage said, eyeing her as she took her seat next to Ryo, "but I'll bet Ryo does."

Just then, an elderly man wearing black dress pants, a white dress shirt, a striped tie, and glasses entered the room. "Good morning, class, and welcome to 'Introduction to World Literature.' I'm your teacher, Mr. Garner," he said as he wrote the course title and his name on the chalkboard. "Now, I have to go to my office to get your textbooks, but in the meantime, I would like for you to divide up into groups of four for a class discussion." With that, Mr. Garner left the room as students started to move their desks around.

"Hey, Ryo!" Kento shouted to him, who turned around and looked at him. "Get over here!"

Ryo got up and went to where Sage and Kento were sitting, followed by the new girl. As Ryo moved a couple of desks around, Sage asked, "Well, Ryo, aren't you going to introduce us to your new friend?"

"Oh, right," Ryo stuttered as he sat down. "Guys, this is Rita Niitsu. Rita, these are two of my friends: Kento Rei Fuan and Sage Date."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Rita said, still standing.

"Aren't you gonna sit down?" Kento asked.

"Oh," Rita exclaimed, feeling around with her free hand for the empty desk. Finding it, she quickly sat down next to Ryo. That's when Sage and Kento first noticed her eyes.

"Hey, guys, what's wrong?" Ryo asked, noticing the strange way they were staring at Rita.

"Nothing," Kento said, still looking at Rita. "It's just that, well... why do your eyes look like that, Rita?"

Ryo watched as Rita looked down at her lap, her face turning slightly red. "I don't think it's any of your business, Kento," he responded.

"It's okay," Rita told him. "Your friends have the right to know." She turned toward Sage and Kento, and stated simply, "I'm blind."

"Sorry about that," Kento admitted sheepishly.

"That's all right, Kento," she said, smiling shyly.

Just then, Mr. Garner reentered the room with about two dozen books in his arms. He laid the pile of books on his desk, picked up the one from the top, and announced, "Is Rita Niitsu here?"

"I'm right here, Mr. Garner," Rita said, raising her hand.

Mr. Garner walked up to her and placed the textbook on her desk. "Here's the textbook that was special-ordered for you," he explained to Rita. With that, he returned to his desk and continued to distribute the books.

Kento leaned over to take a better look at Rita's book. The cover had a couple of rows of small bumps. "Kento, sit down!" Sage exclaimed, pushing Kento back in his seat.

"Hey, Rita," Kento blurted out, "what are all those bumps for?"

"It's Braille," Rita explained, with her hand resting on top of the book. "This is how I'm able to read and write."

"So...that book is the same as ours?"

"Should be. Only difference is that mine's in Braille and yours is in print." Rita ran her fingers along the two lines of Braille on the cover of her book. " 'Introduction to World Literature: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems From Around the World'," she read. "That is correct, right?"

The three boys quickly looked at their textbooks before Ryo responded, "Yes, that's right."

"All right, everyone, settle down," Mr. Garner announced. Everyone quieted down as Mr. Garner continued. "Now, I would all of you to turn to page 143 in your textbooks..."

It was sixth period in the school cafeteria: lunch time for most students at Han'a High School. Kento, Sage, Cye, and Rowen were sitting at a table against the wall. Rowen was reading a book, and Kento was gulping down his food as though he hadn't eaten anything in days.

"You know, I passed Ryo a couple of times in the hallway," Cye told the others, "and every time, this girl was hanging around with him. Do any of you know who she is?"

"Yeah, her name's Rita," Sage explained. "She was in our English class." Sage indicated himself and Kento.

"Yeah, and she's sitting with us for lunch," Kento said. "And one more thing: Rita's blind."

"She is? Interesting," Rowen said, looking up from his book.

Just then, Ryo and Rita arrived at the table, each carrying a lunch tray. "Hey, guys," Ryo said to his friends as he and Rita sat down. "Rita, this is Cye Mouri and Rowen Hashiba, and you remember Sage and Kento."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Rita said to them.

"Hello, Rita," Cye said, "and welcome to Haná High."

"Thank you, Cye," she replied, smiling shyly.

Sage quickly elbowed Rowen, who was busy studying Rita's eyes. "Hi, Rita," he said quickly.

The group of six ate in silence for a few minutes, until Rowen asked, "Rita, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Rita looked up at him and said, "Of course not. Ask away."

"Exactly how long have you been blind?" Rowen asked. "It doesn't seem like you've been blind from birth."

Rita was quiet for a moment before she replied, "Only ten years. How could you tell?"

"Yeah, Rowen," Ryo asked curiously, "how can you tell?"

"Well, over the summer, I took a college course: 'Human Anatomy.' One of the several things we discussed were disorders of the eyes, including blindness."

"Wait a minute!" Kento interrupted. "You went to college?"

"Yes, I did," Rowen told his friends. "The college officials offered me a free summer course. Even my textbook was free. Anyway," he continued, "the main difference between hereditary blindness, and those caused by diseases and such, is the appearance of the eyes. People who have been blind all their lives have a thick, milky film over the entire eye. Those who've become blind from diseases or accidents have more of a bluish-gray film that only covers the iris and pupil, such as in your case, Rita."

"I hope you don't think I'm prying, Rita," Cye asked cautiously, "but do you mind telling us how you became blind?"

She hesitated before saying, "No problem." The five boys leaned in closer as Rita began to tell her story. "About ten years ago," she started, "I lived in Tokyo with my parents. The three of us were riding on the subway; I don't remember where we were heading, exactly. Suddenly, the car shook violently. I found out later that the subway went off its tracks. I was flung to the other end of the car. The back of my head hit an open circuit breaker, and I passed out. When I woke up in the hospital the next day, all I could see was darkness. That's when I discovered I was blind."

"So, that's how it happened," Rowen muttered aloud. "The electric current from the breaker must have caused damage to the visual cortex in your occipital lobe."

"Rowen, please speak English," Kento pleaded.

Rowen looked at the guys, all with confused looks on their faces. "Could you explain what you just said to us?" Sage asked.

Before Rowen could say anything, Rita explained, "He's talking about the visual cortex, which is located in the occipital lobe. The occipital lobe is located at the base of the brain, in the back of your head. It basically controls your vision. I learned that from my doctors. That's pretty close to how they described my condition."

"How did your parents react when they found out?" Ryo asked.

"I wouldn't know," Rita replied, with tears brimming in her eyes. "They died in the crash. I was one of few survivors." She started to cry, as both Ryo and Cye comforted her.

"I'm sorry, Rita," Ryo apologized sympathetically. He remembered losing his father, and the mother he only knew from pictures and home movies. "Losing your parents is very difficult," Ryo admitted truthfully.

"You're an orphan, too?" Rita asked, looking at Ryo with sad eyes.

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "My father was killed in Africa, during one of his expeditions, by a lion, and my mother died when I was still a baby." He handed Rita a napkin, and she wiped her eyes with it.

"Thank you," Rita said, smiling at Ryo.

In the meantime, Kento, who already ran out of food, was eyeing an apple on Rita's lunch tray. Undetected by the guys, he slowly stretched his hand out to the apple. When he finally had his hand around it, Kento felt a slap and let go of the apple. "Sorry, Kento, but that's my apple," Rita said.

"Aww, man," Kento exclaimed as he held his hand. "But, how did you--?"

"I heard you stretching your arm across the table," she explained.

"You heard him?" Cye asked, with a puzzled look on his face. "We didn't even notice Kento trying to take your apple."

"Well, my other senses are more developed, since I have to rely on them more often."

Cye nodded, understanding what Rita said. "Who do you live with now, Rita?" Sage asked.

"With my grandfather in Toyama," Rita responded. "He's the only family I have left."

"Hold on," Ryo said. "If you lived with your grandfather ever since the accident, how come we never seen you before?"

"Well, I had to go to a special school for the visually impaired in Tokyo," she explained. "I was taught how to get around by myself, and also how to read and write in Braille. After a couple of years in that school, I was transferred to another school, where they taught typical school courses, only we read books in Braille or use talking books." Rita stopped for a moment before continuing. "Traveling back and forth was becoming strenuous, and my grandfather felt that I wasn't getting the education I deserved. He wrote letters to local public schools, but it appeared that no one wanted to accept a blind student in their school. We were almost ready to give up the search when Principal Hiroshi called us and accepted me as a new student."

As Rita was talking to her new friends, some kids sitting at a nearby table were planning a very cruel trick. "I don't know about this, you guys," one boy said.

"Aww, come on, Mark," another boy pleaded. "You have the best arm out of the three of us."

"Yeah, and don't forget," the third boy said to Mark as he placed an apple in his open hand, "she's blind, so she'll never see it coming."

Mark gripped the apple in his hand, and threw it straight at Rita's head. When the apple was about a foot away from her head, she quickly reached up and caught it. The guys gasped, not because she actually caught the apple, but because somebody had the nerve to try something like that. She even tossed the apple to an astonished Kento.

Just then, Mr. Hiroshi entered the cafeteria. He approached the table where Rita and the guys were sitting and said, "Hello, Rita. I stopped by to see how your first day was coming along."

"Just fine, Mr. Hiroshi," Rita said cheerfully. "There was just one bad incident: someone threw an apple at me. It almost hit me in the head."

"Oh, really?" He looked up at the boys and asked, "Did any of you see the perpetrator responsible for this?"

Before they could say anything, Rita replied, "The three boys sitting at the table behind us, they're responsible. Although Mark was the one who threw the apple, his two friends provoked him, so they're to blame as well."

Mr. Hiroshi stood up and approached the three boys. After a brief conversation, the boys confessed to the incident, and were escorted out of the cafeteria. Just then, the bell rang, ending lunch period, and everyone started to gather their belongings and leave...

Meanwhile, Dulcea was in her throne room, waiting impatiently for the arrival of Devaki. She held a glass goblet in her hand, staring at the remaining red liquid, when she spotted Devaki through the glass. She lowered her glass as Devaki quickly hobbled toward her and bowed. "Well, what are the results?" she asked bitterly.

"The experiment was a success, Lady Dulcea," Devaki admitted gleefully.

"Excellent," Dulcea said as she stood up. "I would like to see for myself."

"Right away, Lady Dulcea," Devaki declared as he pulled on a rope hanging from the ceiling. A loud, heavy gong was heard throughout the castle three times. After the third gong, five pale, corpse-like figures entered the throne room, each one pushing a large glass tube on wheels. All five tubes were connected by a thick cable, and concealed with a black curtain.

"You are dismissed," Dulcea addressed to the figures, which bowed to her and left.

Devaki approached the tube on the far left and removed the curtain. Inside was an exact duplicate of Ryo, in his sub-armor, floating in a red-tinted fluid. He continued to remove the veils from the other tubes. Inside the others were exact duplicates of Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen, all in their sub-armor, floating in liquid-filled tubes tinted green, light blue, orange, and dark blue.

"As you can see for yourself," Devaki explained, "I have created perfect clones of the Ronin Warriors. The only difference is that our 'Ronin Warriors' are programmed to be evil, thanks to exposure to Black Chi."

"You've outdone yourself, Devaki," Dulcea admitted as she gazed at each of the clones. She turned to Devaki and said sternly, "Activate them, now."

"Yes, my lady," he said as he removed a remote control device from his jacket, and flipped a switch on the remote.

Dulcea stepped back as the fluids were steadily drained from the five tubes. She noticed something about the sub-armors as the liquid was removed: the armor was dark gray where it would normally be white. "The color of their armor, it's different," she remarked.

"Just a slight side-effect from exposing their DNA to Black Chi," Devaki explained.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "At least we'll be able to separate them from the real Ronin Warriors."

By then, the fluids were completely drained, and glass doors opened from the tubes. The Ronin clones stepped out of their tubes and bowed to Dulcea. "We are here only to serve and obey you, Lady Dulcea," the clones pledged simultaneously.

The five clones looked up at Dulcea, and she was taken aback by their eyes. Wildfire's eyes were red, Halo's eyes were green, Torrent's eyes were light blue, Hardrock's eyes were orange, and Strata's eyes were dark blue. To top it off, none of the Ronin clones had pupils. Dulcea yanked Devaki aside by his shirt collar and whispered angrily, "Why are their eyes like that?"

"Umm. well, you see..." Devaki stuttered, "it's just another side-effect from exposing the DNA to Black Chi energy."

"I want you to fix it, now!" Dulcea muttered coldly.

"I'm afraid it's permanent," he admitted. Dulcea responded by grabbing Devaki by his neck. "But, look on the bright side," Devaki choked out. "They are one hundred percent obedient to you, and only you!"

Dulcea thought about what he said for a moment and replied, "You have a good point." She let go of Devaki, who took in several deep breaths of air. "Are their armors the same as the real Ronin Warriors?" she asked as she sat back down on her throne.

Devaki took in a deep breath before responding, "Of course, Lady Dulcea."

"I would like to see a demonstration."

"Yes, my lady." Devaki turned to the Ronin clones and barked, "You heard Lady Dulcea! Change into your armors, now!"

The five clones nodded and turned toward Dulcea. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!"

"Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"

"Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

"Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!"

"Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!"

The five clones transformed into exact duplicates of the real Ronin armors, weapons and all, only the armor was still dark gray where it would normally be white.

"Excellent, Devaki," Dulcea admitted, turning toward her assistant. "You've really outdone yourself this time." She returned her attention to the Ronin clones. "Wildfire, come forth!" Dulcea commanded.

Wildfire took a few steps forward, bowed, and said, "Yes, Lady Dulcea?"

"I have an important assignment for you, Wildfire," Dulcea told him. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"I'm ready for anything," Wildfire stated with confidence. "Just name it, and it shall be done."

"Excellent," Dulcea said. "Here's what I want you to do..."

Meanwhile, back at Han'a High School, the final bell rang, ending school for the day. Several students busted out the front door, Ryo being among them. He managed to squeeze out of the crowd and headed toward an old oak tree near the main entrance. The oak tree was where Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen would always meet before walking home together.

While he was waiting for the guys, Ryo spotted Rita in the crowd and shouted, "Hey, Rita!" She stopped and looked around, trying to figure out where Ryo was. Just then, a student brushed roughly past her, causing her to drop her book bag. Books and all sorts of items spilled out of her bag. As Rita struggled to pick up everything, Ryo ran to her side. "You need any help?" he asked.

"Sure, Ryo. I would appreciate it," Rita answered as the two of them picked up an assortment of books and placed them back in her book bag.

Ryo was about to get up when he noticed something a couple of feet away from him. He picked it up and realized that it was a sketchbook. It was the type of sketchbook that would be given to a little girl, smaller than professional sketchbooks, with pictures of cute little cartoon bunnies and kittens on the cover. Ryo flipped it over and on the back were Rita's name and two addresses: one in Tokyo and one in Toyama. The Tokyo address was crossed out with a thick black marker.

"Umm...Rita," Ryo said, "is this sketchpad yours? It has your name and address on the back."

Rita looked at him and asked uncertainly, "You didn't look inside, did you?"

"No, I would never do anything like that, honest," Ryo denied.

Rita was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Ryo said. "All right, I believe you," she finally said. "Look, I have reasons why I don't want other people seeing this, but I trust that you won't tell anyone about this."

"I won't tell anybody about this, I promise," Ryo replied.

"Is there anywhere nearby where we can sit down?" Rita asked. Ryo responded by taking her hand and leading her to a nearby bench. As they sat down, Rita said, "I'll take that as a yes. Do you still have my sketchpad?"

"Yes, I do," Ryo said, holding the sketchpad in his lap.

"Okay, then. Turn to the first page, please," Rita said. Ryo did so and gasped. The first page was a perfect drawing of the Ancient, with White Blaze at his side.

"I know what you're thinking," Rita said. "You're probably thinking: 'How could a blind girl draw so well?' Well, over a year ago, I had these strange visions in my sleep. Whenever I would wake up from one of these visions, I would grab this sketchpad and a pencil, and draw those images accurately. At least, that's according to my grandfather."

"How would you be able to draw like this," Ryo asked curiously, "if you couldn't see anything at all?"

"That's the strangest thing, Ryo," she answered. "I'm not sure of it myself, but it was like an invisible, unnatural force guided my hand on the paper. It's kind of hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Not exactly," Ryo muttered aloud.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I like to keep an open mind on everything."

Rita seemed to accept his explanation and continued. "The first drawing is of an elderly monk, carrying some sort of staff, and a white tiger. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what any of these visions mean, but I'm sure there's some reason why I had them. Turn to the next page."

Ryo flipped over to the second page, and was more astonished by it than the first. It was a drawing of all five Ronin Warriors in full armor, weapons withdrawn. Ryo was in the foreground, with White Blaze at his side. To the left, in order from left to right, were Sage, Rowen, and Kento, and to the right was Cye.

"These are five young samurai warriors," Rita explained, not knowing that Ryo recognized the warriors in the picture. "The tiger reappeared in this vision: I'm not sure why, though. Their armors were all different colors. The one to the far left has green armor, the next one has dark blue armor, the next has orange armor, the one in front has red armor, and the one to the far right has light blue armor."

Ryo flipped to the next drawing of Rowen in his sub-armor. "This was the boy who wore the dark blue armor," Rita told him. "Basically, everything matched his armor: his eyes, his headband; even his hair was blue."

The next picture was Cye in his sub-armor. "This boy was wearing the light blue armor. His hair was a reddish-brown, and his eyes were green."

The next picture was Sage in his sub-armor. "This boy was wearing the green armor. His hair was blonde, and his eyes were sort of a violet-gray color."

The next picture was Kento in his sub-armor. "This was the boy who wore the orange armor. His hair was a dark gray, his headband was yellow, and his eyes were blue."

Ryo flipped over to the last drawing, which was of him in his sub-armor. "This last drawing," Rita said, smiling, "is of the boy in the red armor. He happens to be my favorite." As she paused for a moment, Ryo felt his cheeks turning red, since he knew that she was talking about him.

"So, can you tell me why he's your favorite out of all five?" Ryo asked her.

"Well, I happen to think that he's very handsome," Rita replied sincerely. That comment made Ryo even redder in the face. "I just love the way he looks with that long jet-black hair and those sparkling blue eyes." Rita sighed deeply before she continued. "But, who am I kidding? Even if this boy was real, he probably never be interested in me."

"You shouldn't say things like that, Rita," Ryo said, taking her hand. "You're a beautiful girl, both inside and outside."

Rita looked up at him and said, "Do you really think so?"

"I don't think so, Rita. I know so," Ryo replied.

He leaned in closer and was about to kiss her, until he heard a familiar voice shout, "Hey, Ryo! Where are you?"

Ryo quickly pulled away from Rita and shouted, "I'm over here, Kento!" His burly friend soon appeared, followed by Cye, Rowen, and Sage.

"Oh, hi, Rita," Rowen said. "Ryo, you ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah," Ryo said as he and Rita got up from the bench.

"I have to be going, too," Rita replied. "I need to ride the bus home. I'll see you all tomorrow, even if I don't see you. Bye!" She waved at them as she made her way to the bus terminal.

As the five boys headed down the road, Cye asked, "Ryo, is there something wrong? You seem troubled."

"No, nothing's wrong," Ryo replied.

"So, what were you and Rita talking about earlier?" Kento asked teasingly.

"That's none of your business, Kento," Ryo retorted.

"Oooh, touchy," Kento taunted.

"Leave him alone, Kento," Rowen told him. "He doesn't need to tell you anything, if he doesn't want to."

The five boys moved to the side of the road so some buses could pass by. As they continued down the road, Sage noticed something that Ryo was carrying. "Hey, Ryo, what is that thing?" he asked.

Ryo looked down and realized that he still had Rita's sketchpad. "Aww, man," Ryo muttered. "I forgot to give this back to her."

"Oh, it belongs to Rita?" Sage asked curiously.

"Yeah," Ryo answered. "She was showing me some things in here before you guys showed up."

"Like what?" Kento pried.

"Look, I promised her not to tell anyone what I saw in here," Ryo told his friends sternly.

"Well, how do you plan on returning it to her?" Rowen asked.

"Her address is on the back," Ryo said, flipping over the sketchpad so his friends could see.

"Hey, I recognize this address," Sage exclaimed. "It's a small dojo, run by an elderly man."

"Must be Rita's grandfather," Cye said.

"You know, I thought I recognized Rita's last name," Sage replied, "and now I know why. Mr. Niitsu was a good friend of my grandfather, that is, before he passed away."

"Look," Rowen said, pointing at a street sign. "That's the street mentioned in the address."

"Mr. Niitsu doesn't live far down the road," Sage said, "so why don't we go there now?" The others agreed as they started down the road...

Meanwhile, a bus stopped in front of a narrow gravel driveway. The doors opened, and Rita stepped off the bus. "Thank you," she shouted to the bus driver as he closed the doors and drove off. At the end of the driveway was a nice, oriental-style, two-story home with a small dojo to the side of the house. Rita stood there for a moment to take in the sweet smell from the lilac bushes bordering one side of the driveway.

As she started down the driveway, she heard a twig snap from behind the bushes. She stopped and listened carefully for any more noises. Hearing nothing else, Rita shrugged her shoulders and continued walking. "Must have been a squirrel," she assured herself.

Suddenly, she heard some loud rustling from the bushes. A figure emerged from the row of lilacs and knocked Rita out with a blow to the head. Rita slumped to the ground, unconscious. The figure was Wildfire, wearing his red and gray sub-armor. He picked up the unconscious girl and teleported away.

A few moments later, Ryo and his friends arrived at the edge of the driveway. "Well, this is it, guys," Ryo said, double-checking the address on Rita's sketchpad.

"Yeah, I recognize this house," Sage replied. "It's Mr. Niitsu's, and right next to it is the dojo I told you about." He started to walk down the driveway when he realized he was alone. Sage turned around and said, "Come on, guys."

The others followed Sage down the driveway to the front door of the house. Sage rang the doorbell, and an elderly man's voice replied, "Hold on! I'm coming!" A few moments later, a short, stout man opened the door. He wore a white T-shirt and black sweatpants. "Hello, how may I help you?" he asked, not recognizing Sage.

"Mr. Niitsu, don't you recognize me?" Sage asked him.

The elderly man looked at Sage more closely and gasped. "Oh, you're Seiji Date's grandson! It's Sage, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Sage answered. "Oh, and these are my friends, Ryo, Kento, Cye and Rowen."

"Well, don't just stand there!" Mr. Niitsu said. "Come in, come in!" He waved his hands toward the hallway, and the five boys came in.

The boys stepped into a well-furnished living room, followed by Mr. Niitsu. "Well, go ahead," Mr. Niitsu said. "Sit down!"

"Thank you, Mr. Niitsu," Sage replied, "but we can't stay long."

"I understand." Mr. Niitsu took a long look at Sage before continuing. "So, Sage," he started, "it's been a few years. I remember, the last time I saw you, we were both the same height! You've grown a lot in eight years. Wish I could say the same about myself." He chuckled to himself before he continued. "You would be about sixteen, seventeen, right?" Sage nodded his head yes. "You go to Han'a High School?"

"Yes, sir," Sage responded.

"Well, my granddaughter just started going there today. Have you met Rita?" Mr. Niitsu asked.

"Yes, we have, Mr. Niitsu," Sage answered, "and that's part of the reason why we're here. You see, my friend, Ryo," gesturing to Ryo, "found something that belonged to Rita. Is she here, by any chance?"

"No, she hasn't come home yet," Mr. Niitsu replied, "but I'll give this back to her when she does."

Ryo handed Mr. Niitsu the sketchbook as Sage said, "Well, it was nice seeing you again, but we better get going."

"All right, then," Mr. Niitsu replied. "Say hi to your parents for me."

"Sure thing," Sage said as he and the others made their way to the door. "Goodbye, Mr. Niitsu."

"Goodbye, Sage," Mr. Niitsu said as he opened the door for them, "and it was nice meeting your friends." The five boys left the house and headed back down the road...

Meanwhile, inside Mt. Fuji, Wildfire teleported inside with Rita over his shoulder. As he laid the unconscious girl on the ground, he heard a voice say, _"Wildfire!"_

He closed his eyes and asked, through his thoughts, _"Yes, Lady Dulcea?"  
_  
_"Did you succeed with capturing the kokoro of fire?"_ she asked.

_"Yes, I have her with me,"_ he replied.

_"Excellent. Tell me, what's your location?"_ Dulcea asked.

_"I'm inside Mt. Fuji."_

_"Excellent. You know what to do now,"_ she replied coldly.

_"Do not worry yourself, Lady Dulcea,"_ Wildfire responded, chuckling evilly. _"The kokoro of fire will no longer be a threat to us."_

_"Excellent. Get started right away."_

Wildfire picked up Rita and carried her to a nearby jagged boulder. He took a heavy chain and proceeded to wrap it around Rita and the boulder...

In the meantime, Ryo was walking down the road that led to his grandmother's house, where he lived. As he headed toward the house, Ryo recognized a huge black and white tiger bounding straight at him. "Hey, White Blaze," he greeted him as the tiger stopped and rubbed against his legs. Ryo petted White Blaze on the head, and together, they walked to the house.

Suddenly, White Blaze roared and stood ready for a battle. "White Blaze, what's wrong?" Ryo asked his pet tiger. The massive cat turned toward him, growling at him. Ryo felt something hot against his chest. He pulled out the chain he was wearing from underneath his sweater. The ring of Virtue glowed bright red, and was heating up in his bare hand.

Suddenly, a beam of red light shot out from the ring. The beam projected a flat red oval in front of Ryo. Through the oval, he saw several images, all in various shades of red. He saw Rita chained up against a boulder. Ryo recognized the surrounding area as the interior of Mt. Fuji.

The next image he saw completely took him by surprise. Ryo saw himself, or someone that looked exactly like him, wearing the armor of Wildfire. "No way!" he exclaimed. "That can't be me!"

He watched in horror as his mirror twin connected the swords of Wildfire, raised them above his head, and yelled "FLARE UP NOW!" The last image Ryo saw was of his twin bringing down the swords of Wildfire toward Rita. The flat oval disappeared, and the ring stopped glowing.

Ryo stood there for minute, puzzled about what he just witnessed. "I don't get it," he mumbled to himself as he stared at the ring of Virtue. "Why was Rita in that image?"

Just then, Ryo remembered something that Shuno told him: 'The rings you have will indicate their presence to you, and also, their mortal identities'. "That's it!" Ryo cried out triumphantly. "Rita must be a kokoro! She's the kokoro of fire, like the one in my dream."

Ryo quickly changed into his sub-armor. "Rita's in trouble, I can feel it," he said to himself. "Come on, White Blaze!" He got on White Blaze's back, and the tiger ran off toward Mt. Fuji. _I don't know why there was an image of me attacking Rita,_ Ryo thought to himself, _but I'm gonna find out._

Meanwhile, back at Mt. Fuji, Rita slowly started to wake up. She tried to walk, but soon realized that she was chained to something heavy. She started to sweat profusely from the intense heat surrounding her.

Suddenly, Rita heard an evil chuckle that seemed to come from everywhere. "So, you're finally awake," a deep, masculine voice boomed.

Rita gasped when she heard this strange voice. _That sounded like Ryo,_ she thought to herself, _but it couldn't be him. That voice sounded too deep and sinister to be Ryo._

"Who are you?" she asked boldly.

"Who I am doesn't matter," Wildfire, in his full armor, responded sternly, "since you won't live long enough to find out for yourself."

Wildfire withdrew his katanas, joined them together by the handles, and raised them above his head. Before Wildfire could finish the attack, White Blaze pounced on him and knocked him down, causing him to drop his weapons. As he struggled to get the massive tiger off, Wildfire looked up and saw Ryo standing on top of the volcano, wearing his sub-armor.

Ryo was in shock over the figure he saw pinned down by White Blaze. "I can't believe it," he muttered to himself. "He looks just like me, armor and all."

Ryo jumped into the volcano and landed behind the boulder that Rita was chained against. "Ryo," Rita asked, "is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied as he picked up the chain with both of his hands. "Hold still, I'm gonna get you out of here." Ryo pulled the chain taunt between his hands and with all his strength, pulled as hard as he could. A few moments later, one of the links gave way. At the same time, Wildfire managed to knock White Blaze off and was reaching for his weapons.

Ryo finally got the chains off of Rita, when he saw Wildfire standing there with his katanas. "You won't escape from me," he yelled as he raised the conjoined swords above his head. "Prepare for your demise! FLARE UP NOW!"

Ryo quickly grabbed Rita and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the massive blast. As they landed some distance away, Rita asked fearfully, "Ryo, what's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure," he replied, "but you can't stay here. It's too dangerous, and I don't want to see you get hurt." Rita looked toward Ryo questioningly as he shouted out, "White Blaze!" The massive white tiger quickly bounded to his owner's side. "Get Rita out of here, now!" he told White Blaze. Rita gasped as the tiger went underneath her legs and propped her on his back. "Hold on," Ryo instructed her. She managed to get a good grip as White Blaze ran off.

Ryo turned toward Wildfire, who was watching the girl and tiger head for the opening of the volcano. "Your attempts are pathetic," Wildfire told Ryo. "I'll destroy her eventually, but for now, I'll settle for destroying you!"

"We'll just see about that," Ryo retorted back. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!" After the transformation was complete, Ryo withdrew his own katanas, ready for battle.

Ryo charged straight at Wildfire, holding one of his katanas above his head. As he brought down the katana, Wildfire surprisingly dodged the attack. "I believe this is what you were trying to do," he stated as he succeeded with the very same attack Ryo tried earlier.

Ryo was stunned for a moment, but he shook it off. "But, how-"

"Don't forget, Ryo of Wildfire," his double replied sinisterly, "I am part of you. I know your moves and your thoughts." He rammed Ryo hard; knocking him against the boulder that Rita was once chained to.

White Blaze watched the battle on top of Mt. Fuji, while Rita listened. "It doesn't sound like Ryo's winning," she muttered to herself. "I wish there was some way I could help him."

Suddenly, Rita felt some strange warmth near her hand. She felt around and picked up a small metal object, which was the ring of Virtue. As she held the ring in her open hand, a narrow beam of red light emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the kanji of Virtue appeared on Rita's forehead.

She heard an unfamiliar man's voice speak to her. _"Rita Niitsu,"_ the voice said, _"I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You, my dear child, are the kokoro of fire reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world from evil. Ryo is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Wildfire. The time has finally come to remove the veil that has shrouded your vision for so long."_

As Rita stood there, listening to Shuno's voice, her eyes started to change color. The bluish-gray film disappeared and was replaced by a reddish-brown color, and black pupils shone through her irises. When her vision came back, at first, everything appeared blurry. After a minute or two, Rita could see everything clearly, as though she never lost her vision to begin with. She was startled a bit when she saw White Blaze standing there.

Rita looked down into the volcano and saw Ryo, wearing the exact armor that she drew, fighting a figure that almost looked exactly like him, armor and all. She put on the ring, looked at the tiger and said, "Come on, White Blaze. Ryo needs our help." Rita cautiously got on White Blaze's back, and he made his way down into Mt. Fuji.

Meanwhile, Ryo was fighting Wildfire as best as he could, but he was obviously struggling. Wildfire punched him in the face, and it knocked Ryo down into the ground. As he attempted to get up, he saw Rita and White Blaze heading toward him. "No, Rita, get out of here, now!" Ryo ordered before he passed out.

Wildfire looked up at her and chuckled evilly. "Now, it's your turn," he snickered as he slowly advanced toward her. White Blaze pounced on him, but Wildfire simply knocked the tiger off. Rita backed away from him as much as she could, until she was on the edge of a small cliff protruding over the pool of lava. "There's no one left to save you now!" Wildfire claimed as he grabbed Rita's arm.

Suddenly, a bright flash of red light illuminated from the ring and blinded Wildfire. "Ahh, my eyes!" he screamed as he let go of Rita and covered his eyes with his hands. Rita felt something warm resting in her hand. She looked down at a small ball of fire that formed in her hand. Rita concentrated on the fireball, and it grew bigger and brighter. As Rita continued to concentrate, a second fireball appeared in her other hand and grew as well. By the time Wildfire regained his vision, the two fireballs were bigger than Rita's head.

"You'll pay for that!" Wildfire cried out as he charged at Rita.

She begun to spin around rapidly, with the fireballs continually growing. "FIRE SPIN!" she yelled as the two fireballs left her hands and went straight at Wildfire.

The unexpected attack took Wildfire by surprise. The force of the attack knocked Wildfire off the edge of the cliff. "You haven't seen the last of me!" he claimed before he fell into the bubbling pool of magma.

"Wow! Did I really do that?" Rita asked herself as she looked down at the lava pit. Suddenly, she heard a mournful roar from behind her. She turned around and saw White Blaze nudging Ryo with his head. "Oh, no! Ryo!" Rita exclaimed as she ran to his side. She knelt down and gently lifted Ryo's head. "Come on, Ryo!" she pleaded with her voice quivering. "Please wake up!" Rita closed her eyes as tears ran down her face. One teardrop lingered on her chin for a moment, and fell on Ryo's cheek.

Ryo's eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing he saw was Rita, with tears running down her face. He lifted his hand and wiped away some of the tears from her cheek. Rita gasped when she felt a warm hand touch her cheek. She quickly opened her eyes and saw Ryo looking up at her, alive and well. "Ryo?" she managed to say. "You're alive?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ryo replied as he sat up. "What happened? Where's that guy that I was...?"

"Don't worry about him, Ryo," Rita said reassuringly. "He's gone."

He looked up at Rita's face and noticed her eyes for the first time. "Umm. Rita," he started, "what happened to your eyes?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, your eyes, they're different. They're now brown."

"Oh, well, you see," Rita started, "the strangest thing happened to me. I picked up this ring," she pointed to the ring of Virtue on her right ring finger, "and I heard this strange voice talking to me. It said its name was Shuno, that I was a kokoro of fire reborn, and that I needed to help you, Ryo. After the voice went away, I felt this strange sensation in my eyes. All of a sudden, my vision returned. I can see now, Ryo. I can see you."

As Rita was talking, she and Ryo stood up. "So, do you know why you had those visions?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, it's clear to me now," Rita answered. "I had those visions so I would know who to look for. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes, it does," he replied.

"Umm, Ryo?" Rita asked. "About your friends: Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen. Are they...?"

"Yes, they're all Ronin Warriors," Ryo said before she finished. "I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll try to answer all of them."

"Well, first of all, where are we?"

"We're inside Mt. Fuji. It's an active volcano," Ryo replied.

"I see," Rita murmured, looking around the interior of the volcano. "Can you tell me more about the Ronin Warriors and these kokoro that Shuno mentioned?"

"Well, it's a long story," Ryo explained.

"Well, it's a long walk," Rita exclaimed, taking Ryo's hand. "Toyama and Mt. Fuji are pretty far apart."

"Yeah, you're right," Ryo agreed, a smile forming on his face. "Come on," he said, leading her toward White Blaze. Ryo got on the tiger's back and Rita sat behind him. "Hold on," he instructed her. Rita wrapped her arms around Ryo's waist before White Blaze bounded off toward the opening of Mt. Fuji...TO BE CONTINUED


	3. First Impressions

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 3-First Impressions

It was Friday morning inside the school auditorium. Homeroom had ended and students started to gather inside the auditorium. Ryo and Rita entered together, along with the rest of their homeroom.

"Whoa," Rita gasped. "How are we going to find the others in this crowded place?"

Ryo smiled as he explained, "Well, the five of us always sit in the same place during assemblies: in the center back row." He pointed and Rita saw Cye, Kento, and Rowen sitting right where Ryo said they would be. They squeezed past some students and walked down the aisle of seats to where their friends were.

"Hey, Ryo, Rita," Cye greeted as they took their seats.

"Hey guys," Ryo said. "Any idea what assembly's about?"

The three boys shook their heads no. "Who cares?" Kento retorted. "At least it got us out of first period class."

Rita smiled and noticed an empty seat between Rowen and Kento. "Has anyone seen Sage?" she asked.

Cye, Kento, and Rowen pointed to the back wall. There stood a bunch of girls, giving out high-pitched giggles. Standing in the middle of them was Sage. Rita shook her head as Ryo got Sage's attention and motioned for him to come over. Sage whispered something to the girls, which made them giggle even louder before walking over to Ryo and the others. He flopped into the seat between Rowen and Kento, and gave out a clever laugh. "Yup, I still got it."

"Well, would ya mind keeping it to yourself once in a while? Some of us would like to get a date, you know," Kento pouted, folding his arms.

Sage turned to the girls, who were still standing in the back. He tossed his hair, having it fall back down over his right eye. The girls shrieked and blushed with excitement as he winked at them. "Hey, when you got it, why keep it to yourself?"

Ryo was about to say something when he noticed Rita reading a magazine. "What are you reading, Rita?" he asked.

Rita looked up at him and said, "Oh, just some magazine I found lying around the house. It's good practice for me. Since I'm no longer blind, I can read printed material with the rest of the class. But since I'm ten years behind, when it comes to reading skills, I have to work really hard, or I'll fall behind."

"There's no need to worry about that," Cye remarked. "You're a pretty smart girl. You won't fall behind."

"Thanks for the comment, Cye," she said, smiling at him.

As Rita continued to read, Kento asked curiously, "So, Rita. Anything interesting in there?"

"Oh, not much, Kento," Rita replied as she flipped through the pages. "Just your basic magazine articles, advertisements, horoscope page..."

"Hey, I got an idea, Rita," Ryo interrupted. "How about for practice, you read out one of those horoscopes to us? Eventually, the teacher's gonna have us read out loud, in front of the class."

Rita thought about for a moment before she replied, "All right, then. Who wants to know about their future?"

"I volunteer Sage," Kento proclaimed, putting his hand on Sage's shoulder.

"Well, what do you say?" Rita asked him.

"Sure, why not?" Sage replied.

"When's your birthday?" she asked.

"June eleventh."

"Okay, so you would be a Gemini," Rita remarked as she looked up Sage's horoscope. " 'GEMINI: First impressions can be misleading - as you're likely to discover today when you meet someone who could have a major influence on your life'," she read. " 'It's imperative that this person gets to know the real person behind the mask'."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Sage asked curiously.

"Don't look at me," Rita said. "I don't follow horoscopes."

Just then, Mr. Hiroshi approached the microphone. He cleared his throat before he began to speak. "Attention! Attention students, please!" A hush waved over the students as he cleared his throat again. "As many of you know, I am Mr. Hiroshi. As principal of this school, I would like to welcome you all to another day at Han'a High School."

"Whoopee!"

"Kento, shhhhh!" Ryo whispered harshly.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here, and there's a good reason for it too. just let me think of one!"

The principal laughed, assuming that everyone else would join in. He was wrong. Silence filled the air as Kento squirmed around in his seat. "Aww, man! Every time he tells that stupid joke, it seems to get worse."

"Well, umm...anyway," the principal continued, "the real reason why I called this assembly was to introduce a new transfer student."

"Transfer student?" Cye whispered. "That's what this is about?"

"I hope it's a girl," Sage smiled. "It'd be nice to get a fresh face around here."

"And now, we'll hear from Miss O'Brien," the principal announced.

"All right, it is a girl!" Sage cheered.

"Please, let her be ugly," Kento pleaded as he leaned back in his seat.

Kento's pleas were unanswered as a tall sixteen-year-old girl walked halfway across the stage to the microphone. Her flaming red hair barely touched her milky white shoulders. She wore black sneakers, baggy dark blue pants, and a white tank top underneath a bright green vest, with the skirt of the vest trailing halfway down her legs. As she faced the audience, her emerald-green eyes sparkled in the stage lights.

"Good morning to you all," she said with an Irish accent. "Me name's Sandra O'Brien, and I just moved here from Dublin, Ireland."

Mr. Hiroshi took the mike for a moment. "Miss O'Brien is going to perform for us, showing a sample of one of her country's traditions," he announced.

He handed the mike back to Sandra, who said, "The piece we're going to perform is a sample of Celtic dance, which goes back hundreds of years. If any of you seen Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, then you're already familiar with it. I'll be performing this piece with me friend, Lindsay."

A smaller girl, about the same age as Sandra, joined her at center stage, carrying a small tape player. She had short, curly black hair and big brown eyes. Lindsay was wearing black sneakers, blue jeans, and a white tank top underneath a denim vest. She smiled and waved with her free hand as she put down the tape player.

"Hello! How you doing?" she shouted out to the audience with a big smile on her face.

Sandra looked at Lindsay with amusement as her friend returned to setting up the tape player. "Well, looks like we're ready," she said into the mike, "so, hope you all enjoy."

Sandra took the microphone and laid it in front of one of the speakers as Lindsay pressed the PLAY button. Irish music filled the auditorium as the two girls stood up and performed a series of high kicks, leaps, and spins. When the music stopped and the girls finished, the crowd was completely silent.

Sandra and Lindsay looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces as Mr. Hiroshi picked up the microphone. "Well, come on, everyone. Let's give them a hand," he said, clapping his hands. The students quickly followed his example and applauded for the two girls as they bowed.

"Well, that's all for today," Mr. Hiroshi announced after the applause died down. "I hope that when you see these new faces, you will greet them and help them in getting around our school. You are now dismissed to your second period classes." The students began to rise as Mr. Hiroshi escorted the two girls out through another door next to the stage.

"Aww, man! Why does it have to be second period!" Kento sighed as they got up. "I've got World History with old Mr. Sushi!"

"That's Mr. Sugi, Kento," Cye laughed.

"Well, it might as well be Mr. Sushi. His breath smells like raw fish."

"Come on, guys. We don't want to be late," Ryo said. The five boys, along with Rita, ventured out down the hallway and went their separate ways...

It was fifth period now. Ryo, Rita, Cye, and Rowen were in study hall, waiting for their friends to arrive. Kento entered the room and quickly stuck his head out the door. "Hey, Sage, quit that flirting and get in here!" Kento yelled.

Sage walked in the room soon after and stuck his head out through the door. "Catch ya later, girls," he shouted into the hallway. He sat down next to Rowen, who was reading a book. "Rowen, don't you do anything besides read and study?"

"I did a lot of stuff with you guys over the summer."

"Yeah, but that's only 'cause we had to drag you," Ryo laughed. "If we didn't, you'd be doing the same thing that you're doing right now all summer."

"Have any of you seen those new girls since assembly?" Rita interrupted. Everyone shook their heads no.

"Hey, check it out," Cye said, smiling. Rowen threw his glance in the direction Cye and the others were looking. Sandra was walking in with her books in one hand, followed by Lindsay. The two girls sat down at an empty table across from them.

"Looks like she hasn't made any new friends yet," Rita said sympathetically.

"Well, that's gonna change right now," Sage said, smiling as he rose from the table.

"Oh, great! There goes Mr. Casanova!" Kento wailed.

Sage gave him a menacing grin. "Hey, she's lonely and feels that no one cares. I just want to let her know that she's wrong. That's all. It has nothing to do with her being good-looking."

"Well, don't bother," Rowen said, returning his eyes to his book. "It seems that the 'Sage Date Fan Club' has come to greet her."

Sage looked over and saw a group of six girls standing over Sandra and Lindsay, exchanging snooty looks. "Hey, you're sitting at our table!" a girl shouted.

Sandra looked up at her. She had long black hair and steel gray eyes that stared at her coldly. Sandra continued reading. "Sorry, don't see your names on it."

"We always sit here, but you wouldn't know that since... you're new."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you all, but we're not moving, right, Lindsay?"

"Right. Look, if it's a battle of wits you want," Lindsay said to the girl, "you're definitely gonna lose."

"What, are you saying I'm stupid?" she asked sarcastically.

"No need for that," Lindsay pointed out with a smirk on her face. "You just said it for me!"

A freckle-faced girl with curly amber hair and glasses sat down next to Sandra. "Hey, we all know the real reason why you're sitting here, but you're wasting your time! Date belongs to us!"

"Who?"

"You mean you don't know who Sage is?" the black-haired girl asked in shock.

"Like you said before, I'm new here, so how would I know who he is?" Sandra retorted.

The girl narrowed her gray eyes at Sandra, as if she was trying to see right through her. A wicked smile waved over her face as she began to laugh. "All right, I'll show you who he is, but just remember, he's ours! Ya see the one with the blond hair over there? Well, that's him. That's..." The girl let out a deep sigh before she finished. "Sage Date." The girls broke out into a series of sighs and giggles.

"Oh, please! I don't see what the fuss is 'bout," Sandra said, shaking her head.

All the girls stopped giggling and stared at her in horror. "You mean you don't think he's absolutely gorgeous?"

"Oh, he's cute, I'll give him that, but there's more to guys than just a handsome face. You know, like a personality?"

"You're right, she is weird," one girl whispered to another.

The black-haired girl sat down in front of Sandra and glared at her. "You never been to Toyama before, have you? I would've remembered you. A girl with your. looks would easily stick out like a sore thumb." The other girls laughed at her sinister remark.

Sandra tried hard to control her anger as she narrowed her eyes and stared back at the girl. "Big talk coming from a prissy little pimple-faced bimbo like yourself!"

A loud burst of laughter broke into the air. The group of girls, including Sandra, whirled around to see Kento doubled over with laughter. The others stared at Sandra with their mouths wide open, shocked over the remark she had made. Sandra looked down at the table, feeling her face growing hot with embarrassment. "Oh, no! I didn't think I was that loud. Way to go, Sandra, you twit!"

The girl stared at Sandra in rage and was about to say something when the teacher entered the room. "What's going on here, Noriko?" he asked the girl with the gray eyes.

"Nothing, Mr. Stein," she replied, looking at Sandra. "We were just leaving." Noriko stood up and gave Sandra another evil smile. "Come on, girls, let's go."

Sandra sunk down even further as the girls walked off. She covered her face with her hands, hoping no one would notice the red glow in her cheeks. "Sandra, are you all right?" Lindsay asked.

Sandra looked up at her friend with tears brimming in her eyes. "All right, then," she muttered.

Lindsay managed to get the teacher's attention. "Excuse me, Mr. Stein? Would it be all right if me friend and I make a quick trip to the gals' room?"

"Sure, but be quick about it," Mr. Stein replied.

"Thanks," Lindsay said as she got up. "Come on, Sandra!" She grabbed her friend's arm and they flew straight out of the room.

"Did you guys hear that!" Kento exclaimed.

"Just how low can those girls go?" Cye asked to no one in particular...

The bell rang, ending fifth period class. Sandra and Lindsay left study hall together and headed down the hall to Sandra's locker. "Hey, Sandra," Lindsay said. "Mind if I get a drink?" she asked, pointing at a nearby water fountain.

"Of course not!" Sandra exclaimed. "Go ahead! I just need a few things from me locker." Lindsay went off to the fountain as Sandra opened her locker. She froze for a moment as some of the same girls that she met up with at study hall walked past her. The girls looked at her, whispered among themselves, and laughed as they walked by.

Sandra continued to dig around in her locker. She felt as if she was going to be sick from the rage that was burning inside her.

"Sage, where you going?" Ryo asked as Sage started to walk away.

"Ask a silly question, Ryo." He smiled wickedly.

"Uh, Sage, I honestly don't think this is the best time to flirt with her," Rowen suggested.

"Aww, this is the perfect time, Rowen. She may need a shoulder to cry on after what happened at study hall, and we all know I'm the right guy for the job."

"Sage, I agree with Rowen," Ryo said. "I really think you should..."

"Remind me to teach you a thing or two about girls some time." Sage walked smoothly up to her as she stood at the open locker and tapped her on the shoulder. Sandra whirled around and gave Sage a look that made him take a step back. The sparkles from her green eyes were gone.

"Well, what do you want?" she snapped.

"N-Nothing, nothing at all," Sage stuttered. "I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize! For what?"

"For what happened to you earlier in study hall."

"You... you do?" Sandra looked completely surprised as her eyes slowly returned to their original sparkle. She shamefully lowered her head and turned away. "Sorry 'bout that. It's just - I thought that you..."

Sage unleashed a witty smile as he gently lifted her head by the chin. "A pretty face like yours shouldn't be held down so low."

"Excuse me?"

"Those girls had no right to talk to you like that, especially to such a gorgeous girl like yourself."

Sandra narrowed her eyes as she pulled away from him. "Look, Sage, is it? Just what are you trying to pull?"

"Me? I'm not trying to pull anything," Sage said, trying to look innocent. "I just want to..."

"Listen, you little twit! You may have a lot of these shallow girls thinking you're the greatest guy in the world, but don't think that I'm gonna be one of them, GOT IT?" Sandra angrily slammed her locker shut and pushed her way past him, leaving Sage standing dumbfounded.

"Hey, Sandra! Where you going?" Lindsay yelled as her friend stormed down the hall. She stopped where Sage was standing and asked, "What did you say to her?" Sage just stood there completely baffled. Lindsay shook her head as she ran to catch up with Sandra.

Sage turned around and headed toward his friends, who were trying hard to muffle their snickering. "Wow, Sage, you sure did smooth talk her," Cye laughed.

"What was that you wanted to teach us about girls?" Ryo joked. Sage completely ignored them. He only stood there with his mouth wide open, staring in the direction that Sandra headed. "Sage, are you okay?" Ryo asked, shaking his shoulder.

"She - she brushed me off... and she called me a little twit!"

"Sage, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen," Rowen said, shaking his head.

They started to walk away when they noticed Ryo still standing there. "Ryo, are you coming?" Cye asked.

"Go ahead, guys," Ryo replied. "I promised Rita I'd wait for her."

The four boys continued down the hall, leaving Ryo behind. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when a girl turns down the 'Flirting King'! You're losing your touch, Sage!"

"Shut up, Kento!"

A minute or so after Sage and the others left; Lindsay peeked around the corner. She turned her head and whispered, "The coast is clear; he's gone."

Sandra looked around to see for herself, and realizing that Lindsay was right, they headed down the hallway. "I'm so glad he left," she told Lindsay. "Let me tell ya, he is such an annoying little prick. You should've seen the way he came onto me."

"This was the same guy that them gals in study hall were swooning over: Sage Date?" Lindsay asked.

"The one and only," Sandra stated. "I hope I never see the bloke again."

"Now, that's wishful thinking," Lindsay pointed out. "You both go to the same school. Whether you like it or not, you're gonna bump into each other now and then."

"Please, don't remind me!" Sandra groaned.

"Konnichi wa!" The two girls turned around and saw a boy and girl approaching them, both with long black hair and wearing red sweaters.

"Sorry. What did you say?" Sandra asked the girl.

"Konnichi wa," the girl repeated. "It's Japanese for 'hello'." The two girls giggled nervously.

"Sorry, we should introduce ourselves," the boy said. "I'm Ryo Sanada, and this is Rita Niitsu."

"Nice to meet you," Sandra and Lindsay replied.

As they walked down the hall, Ryo said, "Sandra, you shouldn't take to heart what Noriko and her friends said to you earlier. They're just a bunch of airheads."

"You see, that's exactly what I thought 'bout them gals, Sandra," Lindsay remarked. "Course, I would've called 'em bubble-heads meself."

The four of them laughed at that remark. "You two have lunch next, right?" Rita asked.

"Yes, we do," Sandra replied.

"Well, if you're not sitting with anyone else, would you like to sit with us and our friends?"

"Really! We can?" Sandra asked, surprised.

"Of course, you can," Rita replied.

"Well, all right then. Let's go!" Lindsay proclaimed.

All of a sudden, Sandra stopped walking and slapped her forehead. "Oh, no!" she groaned.

Lindsay turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I left our lunches in me locker," Sandra admitted.

"No problem. We'll just go back and get 'em."

"You two go ahead," Ryo told them. "We'll meet you in the courtyard."

"All right, then," Sandra and Lindsay agreed as they made their way back to Sandra's locker...

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, friends gathered together at wooden picnic tables and underneath cherry trees. The surrounding brick walls of the school were thickly covered with ivy, along with a couple of varieties of flowering vines. Sage sat alone at one of the picnic tables, staring at his bagged lunch.

"Hey, is it safe to sit here?" He looked up and saw Kento standing next to him, carrying a lunch tray. "Of course, Kento."

Kento grinned and sat down next to Sage.

Ryo and Rita arrived soon after, and took their seats opposite of Sage and Kento. "I hope you two don't mind," Rita told Kento and Sage, "but Ryo and I invited a couple of students to sit with us during lunch."

"Really, who?" Kento asked.

"Konnichi wa!" Sandra and Lindsay stood with their lunch in their hands and smiled at the group. Almost immediately, Sage's disposition changed as he smiled at Sandra.

"Hey, Sandra, Lindsay! Here, we saved you a space," Ryo said as he and Rita moved over.

"Of course, there's even more room on this side," Sage said, smiling as he patted the empty space next to him.

"Thanks, but no thanks. We're just fine right here."

"Whatever you say... Bright Eyes." Sandra glared at him coldly as she and Lindsay took their seats next to Rita and Ryo.

"Hey, guys," Cye greeted as he and Rowen approached the picnic table, both carrying lunch trays, and sat in the remaining space next to Sage.

"Sandra, Lindsay," Ryo announced, "these are our friends: Cye Mouri, Rowen Hashiba, Kento Rei Fuan, and you probably remember Sage Date."

"Unfortunately, yes," Sandra said coldly, watching Sage as the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

"Ooo, burned again!" Kento whispered to him mockingly.

"Shut up, Kento," Sage muttered through clenched teeth.

"It was really cool the way you told Noriko off today, Sandra! I was dying!" Kento said.

"You kind of made that obvious to us," Lindsay remarked. "You was laughing like a hyena!" That comment made the others laugh.

As they ate, Rowen asked, "How did you two learn that dancing? It seems rather difficult."

"Well, we started taking dance classes at an early age," Sandra started. "We were 'bout-what? Five? Six?" she asked Lindsay.

"We were 'round five years old when we started."

"Right. The two of us took the same classes, twice a week for 'bout four years. After that, we performed together at talent competitions, and also for productions of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance."

"That's pretty impressive," Cye admitted to the girls.

Just then, the bell rang, ending lunch. As they gathered their books, Rita asked, "What's your next class? Maybe one of us can help you find it."

"Lemme think. General Biology, in room one-seventy-eight with Mr. Kurgan," Sandra recalled.

"Well, what do you know?" Sage said, smiling. "I have that same class."

"Gee, I'm so thrilled," she replied sarcastically...

Some time later, it was near the end of seventh period in room 178. Most of the students were getting anxious to leave, while Mr. Kurgan, a gray-haired man wearing glasses and a white lab coat, picked up a hat filled with pieces of folded paper. "Attention, everyone!" he yelled as everyone quieted down. "Thank you. As you remember, I had half of you write your names on slips of paper, which are in this hat. Now, I want those students who didn't write down their names to come up here now and draw a name." A handful of students, including Sandra, approached Mr. Kurgan's desk and drew a piece of paper from the hat. "Remember those names, people," the teacher said sternly, "because whoever you draw will be your lab partner for the rest of the school year."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Kurgan opened the door, and there stood Mr. Hiroshi. "Excuse me for a moment, class," their teacher said as he left the classroom and closed the door. Immediately after he left, the class started talking.

Sandra opened her slip of paper, curious as to whom her lab partner would be. "Oh, no!" she groaned, covering her face.

"What's wrong? Who's your partner?" Lindsay asked.

Sandra handed the piece of paper to her, not saying a word. Lindsay looked at the paper and realized why she was upset: the paper read 'SAGE DATE'.

The two friends looked over at Sage, who was busy chatting with a couple of girls. "Gee, ain't you the lucky one?" Lindsay said dully. "I bet them gals would kill to be Sage's lab partner for the whole year." A wicked smile slowly played across Sandra's face. "What are you up to, Sandra?"

"You just gave me a brilliant idea!" Sandra told her. She stood up and approached the two girls Sage was talking to. "Excuse me, you two. Can I talk to you? It'll only be for a moment."

The girls followed Sandra, leaving Sage staring suspiciously at Sandra. "What is she trying to pull?" he asked himself.

"Ladies, have I got a deal for you," Sandra whispered to the girls. "I wanted to tell you two first because I think you'll be interested and trust that you won't blab 'bout it to the entire class." They nodded their heads and Sandra continued. "How'd you like to have Sage Date as your lab partner for the rest of the school year?"

The two girls glanced at Sage, and squealed at the thought of this rare opportunity. "Wait a minute," one of the girls said. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Sandra handed them the folded piece of paper with Sage's name on it. "Ooo, that's his handwriting!" they squealed as they looked at it.

"Keep it down, you two!" Sandra whispered harshly. "Do you want everyone else to find out?" The girls quickly stopped.

"What do you want in exchange for this?" the other girl asked cautiously.

"Nothing, really. All I want in return is the name you drew for a lab partner, and we'll call it even. What do you say?"

Before the girls could answer, Mr. Kurgan reentered the room, and everyone quieted down and went back to their original seats.

"There's one thing I forgot to mention," Mr. Kurgan said as he sat back down at his desk. "For those of you that never had me as a teacher before, you should know this: whoever you picked will be your lab partner for the rest of the year, and the only way you can get a different partner is through me. I am a tough negotiator, and I will not change your lab partner unless you have a reasonable excuse. Now, you have an assignment, which is due in four weeks, but I suggest you get it started this weekend. I want you to gather twenty different specimens of leaves, press them, and hand them in to me with each leaf identified by both its common name and its scientific name. The procedures are on these sheets, and plant identification books are right next to them. Grab one before you leave."

Just then, the bell rang, ending seventh period class. As everyone got up, Mr. Kurgan added, "Oh, and one more thing. This project is to be done with your lab partner." Most of the students, including Sandra, groaned. "You may leave now," their teacher said.

As Sandra and Lindsay left the class and headed down the hall, they heard Sage shout, "Hey, Sandra! Wait up!"

Sandra groaned as Sage approached them. "What do you want, Sage?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I thought it was pretty strange that no one drew my name in class," he mentioned.

"Oh, someone got your name, all right."

"Really, who?" Sage asked curiously. Sandra didn't say anything; she just kept walking. "It's you, isn't it?" Sage asked, with a smile spreading on his face. Sandra stopped dead in her tracks when she heard this. It gave Sage the opportunity to catch up with her. "I'm right, am I?" he asked.

"Yeah, you are," Sandra muttered under her breath.

"All right!" Sage proclaimed in triumph.

"Well, at least one of us is happy 'bout it," Sandra retorted.

"You mean, you don't want to be my lab partner?" Sage asked in shock.

"Bingo! Give the lad a prize!" Sandra cried out. "Why did you think I wanted to talk to them gals for, hmm?"

"Oh, I get it," Sage remarked. "You were trying to switch lab partners with them."

"Exactly," Sandra pointed out. "I knew them gals couldn't resist a chance to sit next to you all year long, so it was foolproof! If only Mr. Kurgan didn't step in when he did..." Sandra and Lindsay continued walking down the hall, with Sage following close behind.

"Oy, what is it gonna take to get you to leave me alone?" Sandra retorted sharply, taking Sage by surprise.

"Oh, well... you see...I..." he stuttered.

"Look, I'll make a deal with you," Sandra said. "Well, actually, it's more of a bet. As you know, there's a five-minute lapse between the end of eighth period and the final bell of the day. You have to find me in those five minutes. If you can't find me, you'll have to leave me alone for two years. The only times we'll see each other is during classes."

"Wait a minute," Sage replied. "I'm a junior! In two years, I'll be graduating!"

"Well, too bad for you if you lose," Sandra replied, pleased with herself. "Well, what do you say?"

"Hold on," Sage said. "What about me? What do I get if I do find you?"

Sandra stood there, thinking about it for a moment, before she responded. "Okay, how 'bout this? If you do find me, I'll let you walk me home, and I'll also give you a second chance to redeem yourself to me. What do you say? Is it a deal?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"It's a deal," Sage agreed, taking her hand and shaking it. After shaking hands they separated to go to their classes.

"Sandra, may I ask you something?" Lindsay asked, who had been quiet up till now.

"Sure, what is it?" Sandra replied.

"Have you gone crazy or something?" Lindsay cried out. "It's obvious that Sage has a thing for you, and he's gonna try his hardest to find you."

"Don't you think I know that? This was the only thing I could think of to get him off me back. Besides, I got a plan."

"Oh really?" Lindsay asked curiously. "Care to tell me 'bout it?"

"Of course, Lindsay." Sandra started to whisper her plan in Lindsay's ear...

Eighth period had finally ended. Outside the front entrance, Ryo, Rita, Cye, and Kento stood outside, waiting for Rowen and Sage so that they could all walk home together. Ryo quickly glanced at his watch. "Wonder what's taking Sage so long," he mentioned to the others. "He's usually out here before Rowen."

"Oh, he's busy looking for Sandra," Kento mentioned as he peeled a banana and took a bite.

"What do you mean, Kento?" Cye asked curiously as his friend swallowed.

"This is from what I overheard in the hallway," Kento replied as he continued to eat his banana. "Sandra made a bet with him: he has to find her before the last bell rings. If he wins, Sage gets to walk her home and prove there's more to him than his title as the 'Flirting King of Han'a High'." By then, all that remained of Kento's banana was the peel. He quickly threw it away in a nearby trash can. "And if Sage loses the bet," he continued, "he has to leave Sandra alone for two years."

"But, we graduate from high school in two years," Ryo exclaimed.

"I'll bet Sandra figured that out," Rita replied.

Just then, they saw Sage barge out the front doors. He stopped and asked, "Have any of you seen Sandra, or her friend, Lindsay?"

"Sorry, we haven't," Cye replied as everyone else shook their heads no.

"Well, I've got to find her soon," Sage said, slightly panicked, "or I'm gonna lose the bet!"

Ryo shook his head at him. "Why is it so hard for you to accept that Sandra's not even the slightest bit interested in you?"

"Because it's hard for the Flirting King to accept that he's losing his touch with the girls," Kento laughed. "Just think about it, Ryo. If Sandra refuses to go out with him, it'll only be a matter of time before all the girls wise up." Before Sage could say anything, Kento leapt on top of a nearby bench and cupped his hands over his mouth in a makeshift bullhorn. "Attention, all girls! I regret to inform you that our beloved Sage Date, a.k.a. 'The Flirting King of Han'a High School', is no more."

"Oh, say it ain't so, Sage! Say it ain't so!" Cye cried out in a girlish voice. They both fell to the ground, doubling over with laughter. Ryo tried his best not to laugh, but watching the hilarious act of his two friends, then seeing them rolling on the ground with laughter made it very hard.

Sage narrowed his eyes and stared at Kento and Cye coldly, which caused them to stop laughing and get up. "Very funny, guys. Now if you'll excuse me," he said, "I'm gonna check the side entrance." Sage ran off, turned around a corner, and collided with someone. The impact caused him to fall down hard.

As he started to get up, he heard a familiar voice say, "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry, I - oh, no!" Sprawled on the ground in front of him was Sandra. Just then, the final ball rang, ending school for the day. "Aww, man!" Sandra groaned as Lindsay caught up with her and helped her up.

"I told you I should've gone first!" Lindsay complained as Sage got up. "I could have acted as a lookout, make sure the coast was clear!"

"Well, it looks like I won," Sage boasted proudly.

"Please don't remind me," Sandra groaned in disappointment.

A few moments later, Ryo, Rita, Cye, Kento, and Rowen joined the three of them. "So, you guys ready?" Rita asked.

"Wait a minute," Sandra said, "you all walk home together?"

"Yeah, we do," Ryo answered, "until we reach our own streets and go our separate ways."

"Well, that's good," she muttered, eyeing Sage for a moment. "There's safety in numbers. Well, let's go!"

The group left the school and walked down the main road. "Sandra, I'm curious," Cye said to her. "Are you and Lindsay sisters?"

This question caused the two girls to laugh out loud. "No, we're not sisters," Lindsay admitted. "We're just best friends, that's all."

"Well, if you're just friends," Rita asked, "then why did you come here too, Lindsay?"

"Well, you see, Sandra was pretty depressed when she found out she had to move practically halfway 'round the world. I came along to, you know, help her cope. I even went as far as joining her on her first day of school!" Lindsay laughed abruptly.

"Unfortunately," Sandra added sadly, "Lindsay has to go back to Ireland tomorrow. For her, school starts next Monday."

"That's not fair," Kento admitted. "You get an extra week's vacation?"

"Kento," Sage told him, "no one has a longer summer vacation, no matter where they're from. They just start and end at different times."

"How would you know anything 'bout that?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Well, I didn't live in Japan my entire life," Sage explained. "I used to live in California. Back there, summer vacation would start around the end of June, and the first day of school would be. I think it was September eighth."

Just then, the group reached a street that turned off the main road. "Isn't that your street?" Lindsay asked Sandra.

"Yeah, it is," she replied slowly, looking at the sign.

"Then, you're gonna hate this news: Sage lives on this street, too!" Rowen replied. Sandra took one look at Sage, who was smiling, and groaned.

"Well, we got to be going," Ryo replied as he, Rita, Cye, and Kento continued walking. "It was nice meeting you two. Goodbye!"

"Bye, guys!" Sandra and Lindsay waved to them.

"Hey, Rowen," Lindsay asked, "why aren't you with 'em?"

"Well, I live on this street, too," he replied as the four walked down the street. "You know. I was wondering," Rowen asked Sandra. "How did you two manage to avoid Sage for so long? He practically tore the whole school up looking for you."

The two girls giggled when they heard this. "Well, I guess it was a pretty clever plan," Sandra admitted. "What we did was pretty simple, if you think 'bout it. We just hid out in the one place where no boy dares to go; the gals' bathroom."

Rowen laughed as Sage muttered, "That wasn't fair."

"Hey, all's fair in love and war!" Lindsay told him.

"Well, anyway," Sandra continued, "we figured that he'd be roaming the hallways, so we decided to crawl out of the window."

"Hold on," Sage interrupted in disbelief. "Your last class was on the ground floor. The windows in those bathrooms are really small!"

"Good thing we were really slim, eh?" Lindsay replied.

"The only mistake I made was to make a mad dash when I got out the window," Sandra unwillingly admitted. "I should've let Lindsay see if the coast was clear first, but the five minutes was almost up, and I admit, I thought I already won. Boy, was I wrong!"

"Here's my house!" Rowen replied as they approached a white, two-story, oriental house. "Goodbye, girls. See ya later, Sage." He waved as he ran down the driveway to his house.

"Isn't this just grand!" Sandra retorted as the three of them continued down the street.

Soon, Sandra, Lindsay and Sage approached a nice yellow, oriental, two- story house with brown shutters. "Well, here's my house, so you can go home now!" Sandra told Sage. "Go on, now. Shoo!" She noticed that Sage was looking at her kind of weird, with a smile on his face. "What are you gawking at?" Sandra snapped rudely.

"Nothing," he said, still smiling. "Well, so long, Sandra, Lindsay." Sage turned around and walked across the street.

"Hold on," Sandra shouted after him. "Where are you going?"

Sage turned around and said, "I'm going home! This is my house!" He pointed at the white two-story house he was heading to earlier.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "Then, that means we're..."

"That's right, neighbor!" Sage replied, still smiling.

"Oh, great! You've made me first day a living nightmare so far, Sage. Might as well make it a perfect day, eh?"

She and Lindsay were about to enter the house until Sage shouted, "Wait! What about our project? We should get it started this weekend."

Sandra groaned when she heard this. "All right, then," she managed to say calmly, "how 'bout tomorrow, 'round ten o'clock?"

"Great, I'll come by tomorrow!" Sage replied. He ran across the front lawn and went inside his house.

"Sandra, a question comes to mind," Lindsay asked her. "Why do you want to do this project with Sage so soon?"

"Well, it's simple, really," Sandra replied. "The sooner we get it over with, the better I'll feel!" Lindsay laughed as they entered the house...

Tomorrow morning, at exactly ten o'clock, Sage walked across the street to Sandra's house. He carried an empty plastic bag with him. When Sage reached the front door, he rang the doorbell. A few minutes later, Sandra opened the door. She was wearing regular blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a green vest. She had a plant guide in one hand and an empty plastic bag in the other. "Where should we start?" Sandra asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Well, there's a stretch of woods behind my house that I'm familiar with," Sage explained as they crossed the street.

As they passed the side of the house, Sandra noticed a smaller building behind it. "What's that for, Sage?" she asked.

Sage looked in the direction she was looking and explained, "Oh, that's the dojo. My dad teaches martial arts classes in there. I help him out during weekends and after school sometimes."

Sage and Sandra continued walking across the backyard. They were about to enter the woods when a male voice called out, "Sage Date!"

They turned around to see a middle-aged oriental man approaching them. He was wearing the traditional black uniform of a martial arts teacher and black slippers. Sage bowed to the man respectfully and said, "Good morning, Father. What seems to be the problem?"

"Sage, where do you think you're going? We have practice in the morning."

"Sorry, Father. My friend and I are working on a project for biology class."

They looked at Sandra, who had a slightly confused look on her face. "That's good, son," Mr. Date said. "Schoolwork always comes first. Now, are you going to introduce your friend?"

"Oh, right," Sage stuttered. "This is Sandra O'Brien. She just moved into that house across the street from us."

"Welcome to Toyama, Sandra," Mr. Date greeted, extending his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Date," Sandra replied, shaking his hand.

"Well, sorry to interrupt. Pleasure meeting you, Sandra." With that, Mr. Date headed back to the dojo.

Sandra asked, "So, that's your father?"

"Yeah, that was him," Sage replied.

"I'm surprised. I mean, you don't look Japanese at all."

"Well, truth is I'm konketsu, which means I'm half Japanese, half American," Sage explained as they headed into the woods...

Meanwhile, Dulcea was sitting on her throne in silent thought, with Devaki standing by her side. "Halo, come forth!" she commanded.

The evil twin of the warrior of light emerged from the shadows. He bowed and replied, "Yes, Lady Dulcea?"

"I have an assignment for you," Dulcea explained. "I located the kokoro of light. She is in a small forest outside of Toyama. Take her to the Cave of the Pinnacles and destroy her. Go now, but be cautious: she's not alone."

"Yes, my lady," Halo replied as he took a few steps back and disappeared into the shadows.

After he left, Dulcea got up and approached a large oval mirror on the wall to her right. She waved her hand over it and the images of Sandra and Sage could be clearly seen through the mirror.

As she watched the mirror, Devaki cautiously approached her. "Pardon me, Lady Dulcea," he asked carefully, "but why are you so concerned about these kokoro?"

Dulcea turned around and stared at him coldly. "As long as they're out there, they pose a threat to us," she answered. She waved her hand over the mirror again, causing the images to disappear.

As Dulcea walked back to her throne, she added, "Don't forget, Devaki: one kokoro has already been revived, and she nearly took out Wildfire. There's four more of them remaining out there, just waiting to be released." She sat back down in her throne and continued.

"It's essential to destroy the remaining kokoro before they discover their true potential. When that happens, they'll be more powerful than myself."

"I understand," Devaki replied.

"Good. You are dismissed now." As Devaki headed out of the throne room, Dulcea called out to him, "There's one more thing I need to discuss with you."

He turned around and asked, "Yes, Lady Dulcea?"

She stared at him coldly as she retorted, "Don't ever question me ever again, or you'll regret it."

Devaki was taken back by Dulcea's crude comment. "Y-yes, my lady, never again," he stuttered as he quickly left the room...

In the meantime, Sandra and Sage were heading back to Sage's house, their bags filled with an assortment of leaves. "I can't believe you, Sage," Sandra told him as they walked down the path. "You're a black belt in all sorts of martial arts, you help teach classes, you mediate out in the woods... you're like a completely different person outside of school. I'm curious, why do you act the way you do in school? You know, toward the gals."

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Sage told her.

"I'm listening."

"When I was a little kid, I got teased a lot for the way I looked. Although being konketsu played a role in it, I was mostly teased about my eyes. They said I looked like a girl. It didn't help that my hair was longer and my voice was kind of high-pitched for a boy.

"Because of all that abuse from the other kids, I hated going to school. At least once a week, I would pretend I was sick, just so I wouldn't have to go to school. My mother quickly caught on that I was faking, so that excuse didn't last long. I wasn't doing well in school. My grades were bad, and I got detention a lot for fighting some of the kids who teased me. When I was ten, my grandfather passed away and my father inherited a small fortune and the house, so we moved to Toyama. He figured that the move would do some good for me, learning about the other half of my family. I spent only one year at their grade school before starting middle school. That's where I met Rowen for the first time."

Sage chuckled as he remembered those days. "Rowen, like me, was an outsider in his own way. He had his trademark blue hair back then, and he was smarter than the other kids were. In middle school, Rowen was in all of the gifted classes. I only saw him during lunch and recess. Then, near the end of seventh grade and over the summer, puberty struck. When eighth grade started, I was treated completely different then before.

"It was like I transformed from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan over the summer. I got noticed a lot, especially from the girls, and it continued through high school. That's where I met Ryo, Kento, and Cye. I guess receiving all that attention I never got as a kid made me hunger for more of it."

"So that's why you flirt at school," Sandra replied. "You're afraid you'll lose the gals' attention, so you flirt with 'em to keep 'em focused on you."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly describe it like that, but yeah," Sage admitted. "I guess I was scared of losing that feeling of being wanted."

They were quiet for a moment before Sandra said, "Look, I want to apologize for the way I treated you yesterday. I wasn't exactly in a good mood, with moving here and the way Noriko and her friends treated me and all."

"No, I should be the one apologizing," Sage said. "You were upset and I should've just left you alone, or at least talk to you as a friend. I guess the flirting became so addictive, that now I greet every new girl I meet the way I came onto you."

"Does anyone know 'bout how rough your life's been?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Only a few people know," Sage whispered. "Not even Rowen, the first friend I've ever made, knows the whole story. Even though it seems like I told you everything, you don't even know the whole story."

"What else is there?"

"It's pretty hard for me to talk about it to anyone, but all I can tell you for now is that something happened to me that's more horrifying than all the torment I've been put through combined." He ran his fingers through his hair and, for a moment, Sandra could see both of his sad violet-gray eyes. Realizing he said too much, Sage quickly changed the subject. "Umm, Sandra, could I see that plant guide for a minute?"

Taken by surprise, Sandra stuck her hands in her pockets, feeling around for the plant guide. "Oh, drat!" she exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked.

"I left the plant guide on that rock we stopped at for a rest. I'll get it, it's not that far." With that, she ran down the trail, leaving Sage standing there.

He walked over to an old tree stump, sat down, and sighed deeply. "I can't believe it," he muttered to himself. "This is the first time I've ever been honest with a girl. Sandra's so different from every girl I've met."

Suddenly, Sage felt a sharp pain, like a small electric shock, against his chest. "Ow!" he muttered as he pulled out the chain he was wearing from underneath his shirt. The ring of Wisdom glowed green, and small bolts of electricity could be seen circling around it.

Suddenly, a beam of green light shot out from the ring. The beam projected a flat green oval in front of Sage. Through the oval, he saw several images, all in various shades of green. He saw Sandra, from her backside, bending down to pick up the plant guide at the rest spot. She turned around and screamed. The next image he saw was of his evil clone Halo, in his full armor, carrying an unconscious Sandra deeper into the woods. The flat oval disappeared, and the ring stopped glowing.

Sage stood there puzzled for a moment, until he heard a familiar scream. "Aww, man," he said. "Sandra's in trouble!" He quickly changed into his sub- armor and ran in the direction of the scream.

Sage quickly arrived at the rest spot, but Sandra and Halo were nowhere in sight. Just then, he noticed a distant figure out in the woods, carrying something or someone in his arms. He followed the figure as fast and as quietly as he dared. The figure turned out to be Halo, carrying Sandra in his arms. Sage managed to get ahead of Halo and ducked behind a thick bush.

As he waited for Halo, he formulated a plan. _I'll take him by surprise and get Sandra as far away from him as possible,_ Sage thought to himself.

Suddenly, Halo stopped a few feet from Sage's cover. "Where are you?" he yelled out as he cautiously looked around. "I know you're here, Sage of Halo. I can read your thoughts, I know what you're up to." He made the mistake of turning his back toward Sage, who slowly crept out from behind the bush. "You might as well come out of hiding," Halo proclaimed. "There's nothing you can do to help your friend!"

"Wanna bet?"

Halo quickly turned around, only to be nailed in the face by Sage's armored fist. Stunned by the unexpected blow, the armored double fell to the ground. Sage turned his attention to Sandra, who was lying on the ground next to Halo.

"Sandra, can you hear me?" Sage asked as he gently lifted her up into a sitting position. "She's still unconscious," he muttered as he picked her up and ran deeper into the forest.

_I gotta find a safe place for her,_ Sage thought, _until that guy's gone for good._

He didn't stop running until he reached a clearing with a small stream. Sage gently laid Sandra down at the bank and edged toward the cold running water. He scooped up some water in his hands and splashed it on Sandra's face. She awakened with a start and, seeing Sage in his armor for the first time, she screamed.

Sage quickly covered her mouth. Sandra tried to pull his hand off, but he was too strong with his armor. "Listen to me, Sandra," Sage whispered to her. "There's this guy after you. If he heard you scream, he's probably looking for us right now. I don't have time to explain everything, but we got to get moving now!" After he finished, he let go of Sandra, who had an astonished look on her face.

"But, how did you..." Sandra stuttered as Sage helped her to her feet.

"We can't talk now," Sage said, cutting her off. "We have to leave now, or he'll find us."

"Too late for that!" Sandra screamed and pointed up.

Sage looked behind him and saw Halo standing on the limb of a tree, with his sword drawn. He smiled crudely at them as he jumped and landed a few feet away from them. "Stay behind me, Sandra," Sage instructed the frightened girl.

"How pathetic!" Halo sneered. "Now you will both perish!" He lifted his sword above his head, and Sage realized what he was about to do. "THUNDER BOLT CUT!" Halo cried out as a gigantic bolt of lightning emerged from his sword and headed straight toward them.

Sage quickly grabbed Sandra and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the massive blast. They landed a short distance away from Halo. As Sage let go of Sandra, he told her, "Sandra, I want you to get as far away from here as you can."

"But, what 'bout you?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Sage was surprised for a moment. _She's really worried about me,_ he thought before replying, "Don't worry, I can take care of myself. Go, now!"

As Sandra ran off, Sage turned his attention to Halo. "You're gonna pay for trying to hurt my friend," Sage declared. "Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!" After the transformation was complete, Sage withdrew his own sword, ready for battle. Halo snickered coldly as he watched Sage transform. "What's so funny?" Sage asked.

"I think it's humorous that I have to destroy the person I was created from," he replied icily.

The cold response caught Sage by surprise. "You were created from me?" he asked in disbelief.

"That's true," Halo admitted openly. "I would tell you the whole story, but I must kill you now!" The two armored enemies collided with swords clashing and fists connecting with each other.

Meanwhile, Sandra was watching the from behind the shelter of a tree. She turned around just before Halo's fist connected with Sage's unprotected face, so she wouldn't have to witness it. "Oh, man," Sandra muttered. "What am I gonna do? There's gotta be some way to help Sage."

Suddenly, Sandra saw a strange green glow from the ground. Lying right next to her feet was the ring of Wisdom. Curiosity got the best of her, so Sandra picked up the ring. As she held the ring in her hand, a narrow beam of green light emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the kanji of Wisdom appeared on Sandra's forehead.

As she stood there, Shuno appeared at her side. _"Sandra O'Brien,"_ he said, _"I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You, my dear, are the kokoro of spirit reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world from evil. Sage is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Halo. You must put your own feelings aside and concentrate on the real threat."_

When Sandra snapped back to reality, she shook her head and looked at her side, but Shuno was gone. She looked back at the persisting battle between Halo and Sage. "Man, Sage looks wiped out," Sandra muttered as she watched him fall down to his knees from exhaustion.

Halo stood above him, with a wicked smile on his face. "What to do with you," he told Sage, "what to do with you. I got it." Halo raised his sword above his head and said, "I'll cut off your head and keep it as a trophy. It will be a pleasure killing you, Sage of Halo." He was about to bring down the sword when a bright flash of green light blinded him. "Ahh, my eyes!" Halo screamed as he dropped his sword and covered his eyes.

Sage slowly lifted his head and noticed Sandra walking toward them. She had an enraged look on her face as she stared coldly at Halo, who managed to shake off the effects of the blinding light. Several bolts of green electricity were seen running down her arms to her hands, where they gathered into balls of electricity. "I'm not going to allow you to hurt me friend anymore," Sandra muttered through gritted teeth.

"And what can you do to stop me?" Halo asked coldly.

"THUNDER STRIKE!" she yelled as the two balls of electricity left her hands and nailed Halo straight in his chest. The impact from the blast knocked him to the ground.

Halo scowled at Sandra and said, "We will meet again, and when that happens, one of us will die!" With that, he teleported away from the battle scene.

Sandra returned her attention to Sage, who was struggling to get up. "Sage, are you all right?" she asked as she helped him up.

"Hey, I'm still alive," Sage replied, looking at her.

"You got a lot of explaining to do," Sandra said sternly, folding her arms across her chest.

"Where do you want me to start?" he asked.

"Well, first of all, 'bout your friends. Are they...?" Sandra started to ask.

"Yes," Sage replied before she could finish. "Ryo, Cye, Kento, and Rowen are Ronin Warriors. And Rita, she's a kokoro, like you are. Well, sort of."

"Man, this is all mind-boggling," Sandra admitted, holding her forehead.

"Don't worry," Sage said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It will all make sense to you, eventually. Right now, we better head back. It's getting late."

"Yeah, you're right," Sandra agreed as they headed back down the worn dirt path through the woods...TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Calm Before the Storm

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 4-Calm Before the Storm

_It's a late Saturday night in Toyama. The bright lights of the city reflected on the several clouds blocking out the moon and stars. At a busy supermarket, Cye walked through the exit doors, carrying a full paper bag in each arm. He walked down the street, doing his best to avoid the massive rush of strangers going past him on either side._

_"I never realized how busy the city is at night," Cye muttered to himself as he stopped at a crosswalk. _

The light turned red, and a wave of people from each side hustled across the street. Cye did his best to avoid colliding with them, but every once in a while; a stray elbow would jostle him. When he reached the other side of the street, Cye glanced at his watch while slowly walking. He did not notice the stranger running toward him until it was too late.

The two collided with each other, the impact knocking them both to the ground. Cye dropped both of his bags in the process. Some cans from one of the bags were spilled out on the sidewalk. "Aww, man!" he muttered, holding his throbbing head. He was clearly angry.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Cye yelled in frustration.

"I'm sorry," he heard a female voice whisper.

Cye looked up at a beautiful young girl close to his age. Her long, shiny, cornsilk hair cascaded over her slender shoulders. She was wearing a loose sleeveless turquoise dress, printed with yellow stars and crescent moons, and white sandals. What captivated Cye the most were her eyes: they were a clear aquamarine blue, as blue as the ocean on a bright, sunny day. She was staring at Cye as well, but she shook it off as she got up.

"I am so sorry," she apologized as she helped Cye up. "I should have watched where I was going. Please, don't be angry with me." Cye just stared at her in astonishment as she spoke with her slight French accent.

"Is there something wrong?" the young girl asked.

"N-nothing's wrong," Cye stuttered, snapping out of his trance. "You shouldn't be apologizing, I should apologize to you."

"Apologize to me? For what?" the girl asked, slightly confused.

"Well, I wasn't exactly watching where I was going either, and I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm really sorry."

"It's all right," she said, looking down at the sidewalk. "Here, let me help you with those."

The girl bent down and picked up a couple of cans off the sidewalk. Together, Cye and the girl picked up all of the cans and placed them back in the bag.

"Thanks for your help," Cye told the girl, smiling at her.

"It was the least I could do, after what happened," she admitted. They both stood there for a while, trying hard not to look at each other. "I better get going," the girl interrupted. "My mother, she'll be worried about me." She dashed off in the other direction.

"No, wait!" Cye shouted. He started to run after her, but stopped abruptly. "I don't even know your name," he said to himself as he bent down to pick up his bags. He noticed something next to one of the bags and picked it up. It was a dainty bracelet with small links of gold suns and silver crescent moons...

"Cye! HEY, CYE!" Kento yelled to his friend, who was sitting on top of a picnic table, looking at something in his hand.

Cye shook out of his trance and looked up at his friends, who were staring at him curiously. It was in reality Sunday afternoon in Toyama City Park. Yesterday, the five boys made plans to go to the park and play some football, and they also invited Rita and Sandra.

Cye put the bracelet back in his pocket, got off the picnic table, and joined his friends. "What's up, Kento?" he asked Kento.

"Come on, Cye. Join the game!" Kento said, tossing a football to Cye. "We need a new player. Rita wants to take a break."

"I would appreciate it if you take my place, Cye," Rita said.

"Sure, no problem," Cye agreed.

While Rita headed to the picnic table, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, Rowen, and Sandra ran off to the makeshift football field. It was just a small strip of flat grassy land with two garbage cans on either end for makeshift goal lines. The six of them stopped in the center and split up into two teams: Ryo, Sage, and Rowen vs. Kento, Cye, and Sandra. Cye bent down with the football in his hands, and Kento got behind him and bent down as well.

"Twenty-four...thirty-two...hut, hut, hike," Kento chanted as Cye passed him the ball.

Sandra managed to squeeze past the defense and was open, so Kento passed the ball to her. She fumbled it, but she picked it up and ran for the goal. "All right! I scored a touchdown!" Sandra yelled in victory as she threw the ball to the ground.

"Sorry to ruin your celebration, Sandra," Ryo interrupted, "but you have to get the ball between the trash cans in order to score a touchdown."

Sandra looked up and realized her mistake. "Oh, no!" she groaned in frustration.

Sage and the others approached Sandra as she buried her face in her hands. "Sandra, I thought you said you knew how to play football," Sage said.

"Yeah, I can play football," Sandra admitted, looking up at him. "European football, that is. You should've been more specific and told me that we're playing American football."

"Look, it's getting kind of late," Cye interrupted. "Why don't we have lunch now and finish this game later on?" Everyone, especially Kento, agreed with Cye's suggestion.

Everybody headed back to the picnic table where Rita was sitting. "Game's over? Already?" she asked.

"No, we're just taking a break to eat lunch," Ryo explained to her as Cye pulled out a large picnic basket from underneath the table and started to set up everything.

"So, Cye," Kento asked curiously as his friend started to pull out the trays of food, "what did you make?"

"Well, I made sushi, chicken, rice cakes, and bean mochi." Before Cye and the others could sit down, Kento was already digging in.

As everyone else was eating, Sandra looked curiously at the rolls of sushi, lying in a plastic container. "Hey, Cye," she started, "is sushi really made out of raw fish and seaweed?"

Cye looked up from his plate at Sandra. "Yes, it is," he replied. "You don't need to eat it if you don't want to."

"I would like to try it, at least," Sandra told him as she picked up a small piece of sushi from the container. She quickly popped in her mouth and chewed it slowly.

After she swallowed it, Cye asked, "Well, what do you think?"

"Well, it was a bit too salty for me," Sandra replied, "but I liked it."

After they finished lunch, Ryo, Kento, Sage, Cye, Rowen, and Sandra headed back to the makeshift football field. While Ryo, Sage, and Rowen waited, Kento, Cye, and Sandra huddled for a couple of minutes.

"Okay, here's the plan," Kento whispered to his teammates. "After you snap the ball to me, Cye, I want you to make a beeline to the goal, and I'll throw it to you. Ready?"

"Break!" the threesome shouted as they positioned themselves on the field. Cye took position as quarterback and Kento stood right behind him.

"Twenty- four...thirty-two...hut, hut, hike," Kento chanted as Cye snapped the ball and made a beeline for the goal.

Kento realized that Ryo, Sage, and Rowen were going to tackle him together, so he threw the ball sooner than expected. Cye looked over his shoulder and noticed the football flying high over head. It went sailing over Cye's head and into a patch of trees and bushes.

Sandra caught up with Cye as the rest of them were untangling themselves from the pile. "What happened to the ball, Cye?" she asked. "Where'd it go?"

"Somewhere over there," Cye replied, pointing at the patch of foliage in front of them.

Meanwhile, the others had caught up to Cye and Sandra. "Cye, where's my football?" Sage asked him.

"It landed somewhere over there," Cye replied, indicating the trees in front of them.

"You better get my football, Kento," Sage muttered angrily to Kento.

"Why me?" Kento asked innocently.

"You're the one who threw it!" Sage replied.

"What's the big deal about it, anyway?" Kento asked.

"That football was a gift from my grandfather before he..." Sage trailed off.

"Look, I'll get it," Cye interrupted. He parted some of the branches and stepped in. He turned his head and asked jokingly, "You're not gonna kill each other while I'm gone, are you?"

"Nah, we'll wait 'til you come back," Kento replied, smiling as he playfully wrapped his arm around Sage's neck in a chokehold.

Cye shook his head as he continued his search for Sage's football. He looked under bushes and inside hollow tree stumps, but he couldn't find the football anywhere. Just then, Cye noticed a small opening on the other side of the small patch of trees. Looking through the opening, he saw Sage's football lying on the ground.

"Whoa!" Cye muttered. "Kento ought to try out for the football team with an arm like that!"

Cye stepped through the small opening and approached the football. He picked it up and looked it over to make sure it was Sage's football. When he found Sage's name on it, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! That's a relief!" Cye told himself as he turned around and started to head back.

Just then, Cye heard a strange noise from behind him. He carefully turned around and noticed it was just a young girl trying to climb a tree not far from him. When he saw her face, Cye dropped the football in astonishment. It was the same girl he ran into last night. She was wearing a light blue gauze shirt, blue jeans, and short black boots. Her silky blond hair was pulled back into an exquisite French braid. Cye cautiously approached her as she pulled herself up to the first limb, which was a bit high off of the ground.

"Hello," Cye greeted as he looked up at her. Caught by surprise, her foot slipped and she was hanging on the branch by her hands.

"Hold on, I'll get you," Cye exclaimed with a bit of panic in his voice.

"Do not worry," the girl said. "I can get down by myself." With that, she let go of the branch and landed right in front of Cye. When she turned around and looked at him, she gasped and said, "I remember you! We ran into each other last night, didn't we?"

"Yes, we did," Cye replied with a smile. "I'm really sorry I scared you like that."

"It's all right," she responded. "I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself last night, but I was in a bit of a rush."

"That's all right," Cye said, extending his hand toward her. "I'm Cye Mouri."

"Well, nice to meet you, Cye," she replied as she shook Cye's hand. "My name is Clara Marie Garson. I just moved here a couple of days ago from Paris." The two of them just stood there for a while, both too shy to admit the way they felt. "Umm...Cye?" Clara asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Last night, did you happen to come across a bracelet? It's a small, thin bracelet with silver crescent moons and gold suns," she asked with concern in her voice.

"As a matter of fact," Cye started as he reached for the bracelet in his pocket, "I did."

Clara gasped as Cye pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and showed it to her. "Oh, thank you so much," Clara whispered. To Cye's surprise, she embraced him. "Thank you so much, Cye," she continued. "I was afraid I lost this for good." Clara finally let go of Cye, who was completely red in the face. When she noticed his face, Clara giggled slightly.

"What's so funny?" Cye asked nervously, the redness fading from his face.

"I'm sorry about that," Clara said, smiling, "but I never seen a boy blush before. Now, about my bracelet..."

"Oh, right," Cye stuttered, remembering that he still had Clara's bracelet in his hand. He handed the bracelet to Clara, who wrapped it around her left wrist. As she fastened the clasp, Cye asked, "Clara, if you don't mind me asking. why is that bracelet so important to you?"

Clara looked down at the ground and replied, "The bracelet was a gift from my father. He made it for me before I was even born. My father planned to give me the bracelet for my Sweet Sixteen, but he died before I was even a year old."

Cye noticed a few teardrops hit the ground at Clara's feet. "Clara, are you all right?" he asked concernedly. She slowly lifted her head and looked at him with red, tear-brimmed eyes. Cye comforted her with a hug, allowing her to cry freely on his shoulder. "It's all right, Clara," he whispered. "It's gonna be all right."

"It's never going to be all right," Clara replied between sobs. "I never had the chance to know him. All I know about my father is from pictures, home movies, and what my mother and my older sister told me. You have no idea what it's like for me."

"You'd be surprised," Cye replied.

Clara broke away from him and looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Cye?" she asked.

"My father died when I was a baby, too," Cye admitted.

"It's a bit frightening how much we have in common," Clara admitted. "Sorry for being so abrupt, but I must be going."

She turned away, but Cye stopped her. "Wait! You have to leave? So soon?" he asked.

"Afraid so," she replied. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Cye. I do hope we run into each other again. Until then, au revoir." With that, Clara ran off in the other direction, with Cye watching her.

"Cye!" he heard Sandra yell.

Cye turned around and saw Sandra and Rita running toward him. "Hi, Sandra, Rita," he greeted as they stopped in front of him to catch their breath.

"What's been taking you so long, Cye?" Rita asked.

Cye remembered the football and picked it up from the ground. "Oh, well, you see... I..." Cye stuttered.

"There's no time to explain it," Sandra retorted. "We have to leave now!"

"Why?" Cye asked.

Sandra pointed up to the sky. Cye looked up and saw what she was pointing at, several storm clouds were gathering and blocking out the sun.

"The guys are packing up everything in Kento's van," Sandra explained.

"Sorry for interrupting you two," Rita interrupted, "but it's going to start raining any minute. We should head back now."

As soon as she finished, the clouds had completely blocked out the sun, and rain began to pour down heavily. Using their arms to cover their heads, Cye, Sandra, and Rita ran off toward where Kento's van was parked...

Cye stared out of the passenger window of Kento's van as he drove carefully down the street. The rain was heavily pouring down in sheets, flooding the roads with three inches of water.

_I hope Clara didn't get caught in this storm,_ Cye thought as he leaned back in his seat.

"Cye!" an annoyed Kento yelled.

Cye nearly jumped out of his seat. "What's up, guys?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much," Rowen replied from the very back of the van. "We're just having an important conversation about Dulcea's new hired help, but you don't seem to be interested."

"And why wouldn't I, Rowen?" Cye asked curiously.

"Because you went off to another world," Ryo replied, who was sitting in front of Rowen, along with Sage.

"You know, this is the second time you spaced out on us today," Sandra pointed out, who was sitting right behind Cye, with Rita sitting next to her. "Is there something wrong?"

"I'm just fine, guys," Cye reassured everyone. "Just brief me in on what you've been talking about so far."

"Well, we've been talking about those 'twin Ronins' that Ryo and I ran into," Sage replied.

"Oh, right," Cye remembered. "Where do you suppose they came from? And could there be more of them?"

"I'll bet Dulcea had something to do with that," Ryo exclaimed. "And there could be three more out there, so be careful."

"Yeah, that's true," Cye remarked, "but we still don't know where they came from. Any ideas?"

Everyone was silently thinking for awhile until Sandra spoke up. "Not to get all sci-fi on you guys," she started, "but maybe there's like a parallel universe to ours, where the Ronin Warriors are all evil tyrants. What do you think?"

"I think you watch too many sci-fi movies," Sage retorted jokingly.

"That could be a plausible theory, though," Rowen admitted. Sage and Ryo turned around and looked at him curiously. "What? It could be possible. We don't exactly know what Dulcea's capable of. Matter of fact, we learned the hard way that there was more to her than meets the eye."

"Yeah, you got that right," Ryo muttered out loud. "She took us all down without even trying. She may be even more powerful than Talpa ever was."

Just then, the van skidded suddenly. Everyone in back was thrown to the side of the van. As they quickly got back to their seats, Ryo and Sage yelled angrily, "Kento!"

"Sorry, guys," Kento admitted. "These roads are really slick from all this rain."

"Well, could you be more careful?" Sage asked sarcastically, holding his head.

Kento turned his head and asked rudely, "Hey, do you wanna drive?"

Just then, Cye noticed a figure dart right in front of the vehicle. "Kento, look out!" he shouted.

Kento quickly slammed his foot on the brake, and the van came to a screeching halt. Kento stayed frozen in his seat with a frightened look on his face, clenching the steering wheel tightly. "Cye, did I just..." he trailed off.

"I don't know," Cye said slowly as he removed his seatbelt, "but we can't just sit here and wonder 'bout it." He opened the passenger door and stepped out into the pouring rain.

_Man, what was I thinking?_ Cye thought to himself as he pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt. _I'm checking for a dead body under my friend's car!_

He cautiously made his way to the front of the van and gasped at what he saw. Lying on the ground, with the van's bumper against her chest, was Clara. "Oh, my," Cye muttered as he knelt down to check on her.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. "Cye?"

"Yeah, it's me," he said. "Are you all right, Clara? Anything broken?"

"No, I'm okay," Clara reassured him as she attempted to squirm her way out from underneath the van.

"Are you sure?" Cye asked as he helped her out. "You did get hit by a van!"

"Actually, the van never hit me," Clara admitted.

"But, how?" Cye asked.

"When I saw the van," Clara explained, "I tried to get out of the way, but I slipped in a puddle and fell." She shamefully lowered her head.

"Well, it's a big relief that you're okay," Cye told her. "Listen, I know we don't know each other well, but we're heading over to my house. Would you care to join us?"

"Thank you, Cye," Clara said as they got up. Cye looked at Kento, who breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Cye opened the side door for Clara, closed it behind her, and got back in the front seat. As Cye put on his seatbelt, Kento remarked, "Please, don't do that to me ever again!" With that, he restarted the van and continued driving through the heavy rain...

Sometime later, at Cye's house, the front door was opened. Cye and his friends stepped inside and headed to the living room. As everyone, except for Cye and Clara, sat down, Cye called out, "Mom, I'm home!"

A slender woman in her mid-forties walked down the stairs to the living room. She had blond hair, brown eyes, and was wearing blue jeans and a blue-and-green tie-dye T-shirt. She gave Cye a quick hug and gushed, "Thank goodness you're home, Cye! I was so worried about you when that storm started."

"It's okay, Mom," Cye assured her.

She smiled at her son, and then looked at Clara, who was still soaking wet. "Oh, what happened to your friend here?" Mrs. Mouri asked.

"Well, she got caught out in the storm, and we gave her a ride," Cye explained.

"Aww, you poor dear," Mrs. Mouri exclaimed as she looked at Clara. "Come, now. You should get out of those wet clothes before you catch pneumonia." With that, she led Clara by the arm and took her upstairs. "I also want you to take a hot shower," she continued, "and don't worry about your clothes. I'll dry them out for you." She turned her head to Cye. "Why don't you make some hot drinks for your friends?"

"Sure thing, Mom," Cye replied as his mother and Clara disappeared into the second floor. He turned toward his friends and noticed Kento halfway bent over on the coach, trying his best to muffle his snickering. "What's so funny, Kento?" he asked innocently.

"What's so funny!" Kento repeated. " 'Thank goodness you're home, Cye! I was so worried about you when that storm started'," he mocked in a high- pitched voice, which got Sage and Rowen laughing as well. "I was so wrong calling Rowen a mama's boy when, the truth is, you're the mama's boy!" Cye could feel his cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"Come on, you three," Sandra retorted defensively. "Leave him be! There's nothing wrong with a guy being sensitive."

"Thank you, Sandra," Cye replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make some hot cocoa."

As he headed toward the kitchen door, Kento shouted, "Don't forget, Cye! I take..."

"Two dozen marshmallows in your hot cocoa," Cye finished for him before entering the kitchen.

"Two dozen marshmallows, Kento?" Sandra retorted as Ryo, Sage, and Rowen snickered.

"Yeah, and I prefer those big marshmallows over those mini-sized ones," Kento replied, causing another round of snickering.

"Listen, we should stop joking around and focus on finding the rest of these kokoro," Rita replied.

"She's right, guys," Ryo agreed. "We've got to figure out a way to find the remaining kokoro before Dulcea does."

"But how can we, Ryo?" Rowen asked curiously. "So far, it seems that these rings only indicate their presence when they're in danger."

"He's right, Ryo," Sage replied. "And another thing, we don't know how Dulcea's able to detect the kokoro before the rings do."

Ryo sat there in silent thought for a few moments. "You know," he started, "that girl has been up there for a while." That remark caught everyone by surprise.

" 'That girl' has a name, you know," Cye replied as he reentered the living room, carrying a tray with eight mugs of hot chocolate.

As he handed out the mugs, Kento retorted, "Well, it's not like we know her name, Cye."

"Her name is Clara," Cye replied as he sat down in a rocking chair with his cup of cocoa. He looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at him curiously. "What?" he asked.

"How did you get her name?" Sage stuttered out of shock.

"Well, I ran into her earlier than you guys did. No pun intended, Kento."

"No way! And you didn't tell us!" Kento remarked, grinning mischievously. "Sounds like you gonna have some competition, Sage!"

"It's nothing like that, you guys," Cye denied, his face growing hot with embarrassment. "I only met her just last night!"

"Well, she's definitely new around here," Sage replied, smiling, "since I've never seen a gorgeous girl like her around before."

"Oh, boy! Here he goes again," Sandra groaned. "You're gonna pull the same stunt you tried on me, right?"

"Umm... well, you see..." Sage stuttered.

"So, what do you know about Clara?" Rita asked Cye.

"Well, I know her full name is Clara Marie Garson, and she just moved here a couple days ago from Paris."

"She's from France? That's even better!" Sage remarked. "Paris is said to be the most romantic city in the entire world. You have the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and also French happens to be the greatest Romance language of them all."

"You seem to know a bit 'bout France, Sage," Sandra replied. "I must say, I'm impressed."

"Of course, Sandra," Sage boasted. "I am taking French class, after all." He picked up his mug from the coffee table and took a sip.

"Then you probably know that, in France, the gals don't shave under their arms," Sandra told him, causing him to nearly choke on his hot cocoa. Sage's reaction caused everyone to burst out laughing, including Sandra.

Cye and the others were so busy laughing that they didn't notice Clara walking down the stairs until she reached the bottom. Then she cleared her throat, everyone looked up at her. Her clothes were dry, and her slightly damp hair hung freely over her shoulders.

"How are you feeling, Clara?" Cye asked curiously.

"Much better now," Clara replied,who wasslightly fidgetywhen shenoticed the others in the living room.

"Won't you sit down?" Cye asked, indicating the recliner next to him. Clara nodded and sat down.

"Clara, these are my friends: Ryo Sanada, Rita Niitsu, Sage Date, Sandra O'Brien, Rowen Hashiba, and Kento Rei Fuan," Cye said, introducing everyone one at a time.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Clara replied.

"So, Clara," Sandra started, "what school do you go to?"

"Well, I didn't start school yet," Clara explained, "but I will be going to Han'a High School, starting tomorrow."

"Get out of here!" Kento exclaimed. "We all go to Han'a High!"

"How come you haven't started school sooner?" Rita asked.

"Well, my mother and I just arrived here on Friday," Clara explained. "Our plane was delayed, so we didn't arrive here until late afternoon. Plus, we had to get settled in our new house and get the store ready for Monday."

"Your mother runs a store?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Yes, it's called Enchanted Woods," Clara said. "We sell clothing, wood carvings, incense, dreamcatchers, candles, oils, and various other spiritual items."

" 'Enchanted Woods'," Cye muttered. "That store is right next to my mother's pottery shop!" Clara looked at him with a startled expression on her face. Just then, the clock on the fireplace mantle chimed three o'clock. Clara looked at the clock and gasped.

"Is there something wrong, Clara?" Cye asked.

"I didn't realize how late it is," Clara replied as she got up from her seat. "I promised my mother that I would be at the store by four to help her out," she explained. Clara turned toward the others. "It was a pleasure meeting you all, despite the circumstances. I'll hopefully see you all in school tomorrow."

"Do you need a ride?" Kento asked.

"I can walk," Clara replied. "Besides, it has stopped raining."

Cye stood up from the rocking chair. "I'll walk you to the door," he said, catching everyone, except Clara, by surprise.

"Thank you, Cye," Clara replied as the two of them walked to the front door. Cye opened the door, and they both stepped outside.

"I'm sorry I had to leave so soon," Clara apologized. "I would like to stay longer, but my mother is a bit, how you say, overprotective of me sometimes."

"I know the feeling. My mom's the same way," Cye replied. "Probably 'cause I'm the youngest, and my older sister already left."

"I can't believe this!" Clara exclaimed. "I have an older sister, too. She's still in Paris, living with her new husband. Although it's only been a few days since we left, I miss her already." Clara sighed as she looked down at the ground. "Cye? May I ask you something before I go?" she asked.

"Of course," Cye replied.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything in front of your friends. Whenever I'm around you, I feel this strange calmness and peace inside me, and when I'm not around you, I can't stop thinking about you. Tell me, have you felt the same way about me?"

Cye turned red in the face and felt a bit queasy, like he had butterflies in his stomach, but he still answered, "Yes, I do."

Clara's eyes lit up when she heard this news. "I was hoping you felt the same way, Cye," she replied. "I must be going now, but I'll see you tomorrow?" Cye nodded slowly. To his surprise, Clara leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Au revoir, Cye," she whispered before she turned away.

Cye brought his hand up and touched the very spot that Clara's lips touched as he watched her walk away...

In the meantime, Dulcea was in her throne room, standing at the mirror and watching the image of Clara walking down the street.

As she stood there, Torrent emerged from the shadows and cautiously approached Dulcea from behind. He bowed and asked, "How may I be of service to you, Lady Dulcea?"

She turned around and looked at him with her cold violet eyes. "You see this young girl, Torrent?" Dulcea asked, pointing at the image of Clara in the mirror. Torrent nodded and she continued.

"This girl is your target. She is the kokoro of water. I want you to lure her to the Great Whirlpools of Naruto and finish her off. Remember that failure is not an option here, Torrent. Now, go!"

"Yes, my lady," Torrent replied before he left. Upon leaving the throne room, he entered a dark, narrow hallway. Halfway down the hallway, Torrent abruptly stopped in his tracks and muttered coldly, "I know you're here!" From the surrounding shadows emerged Wildfire and Halo. Torrent narrowed his eyes and retorted, "What do you two want?"

"Your skills are pretty impressive, Torrent," Wildfire admitted icily as he and Halo paced around Torrent in a circle. "You were able to detect both of us, although we didn't even make a sound."

"True, but let's sere if those skills help him in luring out the kokoro of water," Halo remarked coldly as he faced Torrent and stared at him with his menacing green eyes.

Torrent stared back at Halo with his cold aquamarine eyes. "Don't worry 'bout me, Halo," he muttered coldly. "I have everything under control."

"You seem so sure of yourself, Torrent," Halo sneered.

"I'll do a much better job than the two of you, that's for sure. Now, I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I have a kokoro to kill." He brushed roughly past Halo and continued down the dark hallway.

"And how do you plan on capturing this kokoro?" Wildfire asked.

Without even turning around, Torrent replied, "Simple, the kokoro is going to come straight to me."

"And what do you mean by that?" Halo asked sarcastically.

Without answering, Torrent teleported out of the hallway...

Meanwhile, Cye entered his home, carrying two paper bags full of groceries. Before he shut the door, Cye shouted out, "Thanks for the ride, Kento!" He entered the living room and looked around. "Mom, I'm home," he shouted. "I got the groceries you needed. Mom?" Cye entered the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter. It was then that he noticed the piece of paper on the counter.

Cye picked up the note and read it. " 'Cye, sorry, but I had to run to the store. That new kiln just came in today, and I had to open the store for the delivery people. I should be back in an hour or two. Could you please check the answering machine for me? I'm expecting an important phone call. Thanks, Mom'."

Cye went back to the living room, approached the digital answering machine next to the kitchen door, and pressed the PLAY button. As he walked back to the kitchen, the digital voice said, "You have one message. 4:26 PM."

A beep followed the digital message, and a familiar voice said, "Hello, Cye? It's me, Clara." As she paused for a moment, Cye poked his head out of the kitchen door. "Listen, I did get your note, and I'm quite flattered. I just wanted you to know that I will meet you at the Onaruto Bridge. I'll probably be a little late, though, but I will be there eventually. Goodbye."

The click of her phone was heard, which was followed by the digital voice replying, "End of message. 4:27 PM."

Cye looked at the answering machine, puzzled over Clara's message. "What was she talking about?" he muttered to himself. "I never sent her a note."

Suddenly, Cye felt something cold and wet against his chest. He pulled out the chain from underneath his shirt. The ring of Trust glowed light blue, and small drops of dew dripped from it. Suddenly, a beam of light blue light came out from the ring. The beam projected a flat light blue oval in front of Cye. Through the oval, he saw several images, all in various shades of light blue.

He saw Clara standing on the Onaruto Bridge, overlooking the Great Whirlpools. The next image showed Clara running on the shore toward Cye or someone that looked a lot like him. The last image he saw was of his evil twin, Torrent in his full armor, grabbing Clara from behind and jumping into one of the whirlpools.

The flat oval disappeared, and the ring of Trust stopped glowing. Cye stood there in shock for a moment until it actually sunk in.

"Oh, my, Clara's the kokoro of water!" Cye exclaimed. "I should've pieced it together sooner." Cye stopped for a moment and realized something else, which made him fearful. "Clara's also in great danger! That note, it must have been some sort of trap to lure her out into the open."

Cye quickly changed into his sub-armor and bolted out of the house. He ran as fast as he could to the city of Naruto, where Onaruto Bridge and the Great Whirlpools were located.

_Just hold on, Clara,_ Cye thought to himself as he ran. _I just hope I'm not too late..._

Meanwhile, Clara was on the Onaruto Bridge, pacing slowly back and forth along the side path built for bicyclists and walkers. She stopped and pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket with her name on it. Clara unfolded it and read it again.

" 'Clara, I can't get you off of my mind. I desperately want to see you again, and it can't wait until tomorrow. Meet me later at the Onaruto Bridge near Naruto. I'll be waiting for you, Cye'."

Clara smiled to herself as she refolded Cye's note and put it back in her pocket. She leaned against the railing and gazed at the whirlpools below. A light breeze gently lifted her loose blond hair. Clara closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Clara!" she heard a familiar voice yell. Clara opened her eyes and looked around. "Down here, Clara!" She looked down along the shoreline of the bay and gasped. Standing there on the shore, with his arms waving frantically to get her attention, was Cye. He put his arms down when he saw that he got Clara's attention.

She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, "Cye, how did you get down there?"

"There's a path over there, leading to the shore," Cye yelled back, pointing at a narrow, steep dirt path not far from where Clara stood.

"Hold on, I'm on my way!" Clara shouted as she ran off the bridge and carefully made her way down the narrow pathway. It felt like an eternity for Clara to reach the end of the path, but she finally made it.

Clara looked toward Cye, who was looking back at her while shielding his eyes from the sun. She wanted to run to him, but she suddenly felt a strong feeling of doubt and mistrust.

_Why do I feel this way?_ Clara asked herself. _I do care about Cye a lot, but for some strange reason, I don't trust him._

"Is there something wrong, Clara?" She looked up at Cye, who was slowly approaching her with his hand still shielding his eyes. Now, Clara felt threatened.

"Clara! Get away from him!" She looked up at the bridge and saw Cye, in his sub-armor, running across the bridge. She was so confused seeing Cye up on the bridge that she didn't notice Torrent change from his disguise to his full armor.

"Clara!" Cye shouted to her. "Get away, now, before it's too late!"

Unfortunately, Clara made the mistake of turning around. When she saw Torrent in his full armor for the first time, she screamed in horror. Torrent quickly grabbed Clara by the waist and jumped right into the biggest whirlpool.

"Oh, no! Clara!" Cye yelled as hequickly stepped over the protective railing and dived into the water.

After surfacing to take in a deep breath, Cye dived deeper into the water. He saw Torrent near the bottom of the bay, carrying what appeared to be a lifeless Clara with one arm. With renewed determination, Cye swam as fast as he could to the bottom, in order to catch up with Torrent.

Torrent thought he had an edge over Cye, but he was too confident. To Torrent's surprise, a huge orca whale came barreling straight at him. Torrent managed to get out of the path of the enraged sea creature, but in the process, he let go of Clara. Cye managed to catch her before she landed on some jagged rocks at the bottom of the bay.

As he swam back up to the surface with Clara in his arm, Cye looked back at Torrent, who was still struggling to avoid the massive killer whale.

_Thanks, old friend,_ Cye thought as he returned his attention back to swimming to the surface.

It seemed like it took forever, but Cye finally broke the surface of the water. Using one arm to keep Clara's head above water, he used the other arm and his legs to swim to shore.

It took quite a while, but Cye finally made it to the shallow end of the bay. He gently picked up Clara, carefully stood up, and walked toward the narrow stretch of beach. After gently laying her down on the sand, Cye quickly placed his finger against Clara's wrist. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. She still has a pulse," Cye muttered.

Just then, he heard some strange gurgling noises coming from Clara. Cye quickly turned her over on her side. Clara spat up some water and took in several deep breaths of air.

As Cye rubbed her on the back, making it easier for her to breathe, he asked with concern in his voice, "Are you all right, Clara?"

She took in another deep breath before replying, "I think so. What's going on, Cye?"

"Now is not a good time to explain," Cye answered. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Suddenly, they heard a loud splash from the bay. They looked up and saw Torrent up in the air. He landed on the beach just a few yards away from them.

"You can't get away from me that easily!" Torrent yelled angrily as he positioned his trident. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

Cye grabbed Clara and jumped out of the way of the powerful blast of water. They landed behind a boulder further down the beach.

"Listen to me, Clara," Cye whispered as he let go of her, "I want you to stay right here where it's safe. I don't want to see you get hurt."

As he turned away, Clara shouted, "Wait!" He turned his head toward her. "You be careful, too. I don't want to see you get hurt, either." Cye quickly smiled at her before he emerged from the shelter of the boulder.

"Are you ready to battle me now," Torrent declared, smiling evilly, "or do you need more time to hide and cower?"

"Bring it on!" Cye shouted. "Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

After the transformation was complete, Cye withdrew his own trident and stood ready for battle. Cye and Torrent charged toward each other, and the two tridents connected with a loud clang.

"Stay out of this, it's none of your business," Torrent sneered.

"If you want to get to Clara," Cye declared, "you'll have to go through me first!"

Clara was so worried for Cye's safety that she couldn't even bear to watch. "Oh, dear. What am I going to do?" Clara asked herself. "Cye's out there risking his own life, and I can't do anything to help him."

Suddenly, Clara saw a strange light blue glow from the ground. Lying right next to her feet was the ring of Trust. Curious about it, Clara picked up the ring. As she held the ring in her hand, a narrow beam of light blue light emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the kanji of Trust appeared on Clara's forehead.

As she stood there, Shuno appeared at her side. _"Clara Marie Garson,"_ he said, _"I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You, my dear, are the kokoro of water reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world from evil. Cye is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Torrent. You must be brave and accept your destiny."_

When Clara came back to reality, she looked to her side where Shuno once stood, but he was nowhere to be seen. Although she felt a bit nauseous, Clara forced herself to look over the boulder at the occurring battle between Cye and Torrent. Even though they were both equally skilled, Torrent had the upper edge.

Unfortunately, Cye was drained from the effort he put into rescuing Clara. Torrent managed to hook Cye's trident with his own, and flung it away from him effortlessly.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Torrent yelled. The massive blast knocked Cye off his feet and he landed face first into the sand. Torrent approached him and stepped on his back, which caused Cye to scream out in pain.

"You know, I wasn't originally sent here to kill you," Torrent told Cye menacingly. "You're just an unexpected bonus. It's such a shame, though. She's such a lovely young girl. Don't you think so, too?" He pushed his foot harder against Cye's back, causing him to cry out again.

"Leave him alone!"

Torrent looked up at Clara, who was standing near the water. Her face was hardened and tears ran down her cheeks. Torrent bent down to Cye.

"I'll finish you off later," Torrent crudely whispered. "Your death will be much more painful knowing you couldn't protect your little friend." He stood up and returned his attention to Clara, who was still standing motionless in the exact same spot.

"Do you really think that you stand a chance against me, little girl?" Torrent taunted menacingly.

"Yes, I do," Clara admitted angrily. The incoming tides seem to react with her anger. "You're going to pay for hurting my friend!" she screamed.

Torrent narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "Try taking this on for size!" he stated coldly as he steadied his trident. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" he shouted.

"TIDAL WAVE!" Clara shouted in response. She lifted her hands above her head, and a huge wave formed behind her. Clara then flung her arms in front of her, and the massive wave flew over her head and headed straight toward Torrent. The two attacks met, but Clara's Tidal Wave overpowered Torrent's Super Wave Smasher and continued heading toward Torrent.

"No!" Torrent yelled as Clara's attack connected with its target. The force of the attack knocked Torrent off of the beach and he went sailing toward the very same whirlpool that he jumped into earlier with Clara.

Before he hit the water, Torrent yelled, "You haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back!" When he connected with the water, a massive spray shot up into the sky.

"And I'll be waiting for you," Clara muttered to herself. While looking at the whirlpools, Clara gasped. "Oh, no! Cye!" She turned around and ran as fast as she could to his side. Clara breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Cye groan slightly. "Cye, are you all right?" she asked as she helped him stand up.

"I think I'll live," Cye answered slowly, looking around cautiously. "What happened to that guy, Torrent?"

"He's gone... for now," Clara replied.

"Are you all right, Clara?" Cye asked with concern in his voice. "You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine, Cye," Clara reassured him. "I'm just a bit shaken up, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Cye asked, still unconvinced. Clara looked into his green eyes and could tell how much he cared about her. She leaned in closer to him and kissed him passionately on the lips. When she backed away, Cye blushed slightly and stuttered, "I-I'll take that as a yes."

Clara giggled slightly as the redness quickly faded from Cye's cheeks. "You know," Clara said as she wrapped her arm around Cye's arm, "I feel that you have quite a story to tell me about yourself and these kokoro."

"Yes, I do," Cye admitted as they walked down the beach together...TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Straight From Da Bronx

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 5-Straight From Da Bronx

Monday morning had finally arrived. Ryo and Rita were patiently waiting for Cye, Clara, and Kento at their street corner. Rita was sitting down on the small patch of grass while Ryo was looking down the street where their three friends lived. "Here they come!" he told Rita, who got back up on her feet.

"Good morning, Ryo and Rita," Clara greeted as she, Cye, and Kento joined them.

"Good morning to you, too," Rita replied as the five young teens headed down the main road toward the street corner where they planned on meeting Sage, Sandra, and Rowen.

When they were a few yards away from the street corner, Kento exclaimed, "I can't believe this! It must be a miracle or something."

Waiting at the street corner was Sage and Sandra, but what caught Kento, Ryo, and Cye by surprise was that Rowen was with them. "This is quite an unexpected surprise, Rowen," Cye exclaimed. "You're usually still fast asleep around this time."

"How did you manage to wake him up this time, Sage?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Well, it helps a lot when you have two people yelling, 'Rowen, wake up'!" Sage admitted.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to get that ringing out of my head," Rowen muttered, holding his head as they continued down the main road toward Han'a High. "Thanks a lot, Sandra," he said sarcastically to Sandra.

"Don't blame me, now. It was Sage's idea, not mine," Sandra told him.

"Hey, guys! Guess what?" Kento asked. "I have a new neighbor. They just moved here yesterday."

"Oh, really?" Sage asked. "Any idea who?"

"I don't know," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "It was pretty late at night, so I couldn't tell."

"Come on, you two," Rowen said. "We have more important things to discuss, like those evil Ronin Warriors."

"It's frightening how much they look like the genuine article," Clara admitted. "I was almost fooled by Cye's evil twin, but I stopped myself because I felt that something was wrong."

"You know, my 'twin' called himself Torrent," Cye mentioned to the others.

"But why would they name themselves after our armor?" Ryo asked.

"Maybe they feel they're far more superior than the lot of you," Sandra suggested.

"I've come up with a plausible theory of how our evil twins came to be," Rowen announced. "It could be possible that the evil Ronin Warriors are clones of us!"

"I don't know, Rowen," Ryo said uncertainly. "That seems pretty far out."

"And wouldn't a clone look exactly like the real thing?" Sage asked.

"Well, the cloning process is not exactly perfect," Rowen explained. "It hasn't been tested on human DNA, only on animals thus far. Contamination of a DNA sample could result in a clone with slightly different features than the original specimen."

"That would explain why their eyes are different," Sandra muttered out loud. "It was weird: their eyes matched the color of their armor, and the freakiest thing was that they had no pupils."

Rowen kept walking along, thinking quietly to himself. "Rowen!" Cye shouted to get his attention.

"What?" Rowen asked.

"And to think you guys were complaining about me spacing out yesterday," Cye said, laughing. "Well, anyway, I wanted to ask you something. If these evil Ronins are clones, then how were they created?"

"Well, the cloning process requires a sample of DNA," Rowen explained. "DNA is like your genetic blueprint. It basically makes you who you are. Your genetic code could be separated from anything: a blood sample, an eyelash, dead skin cells, or a strand of hair even. Dulcea had the opportunity to collect something from us. Who knows how long we were out cold in her throne room?"

Rowen paused for a moment before he continued. "What perplexes me the most is how the clones were created so quickly, and also why they're evil. As far as I know, speeding up the aging process in those animal-cloning experiments was a bit shaky. And since Dulcea obviously found a way to do that, how did she make them evil?"

"Well, you said something earlier 'bout DNA contamination," Sandra mentioned. "Maybe she programmed them to be the way they are."

Rowen looked at Sandra and smiled. "I think you're on to something, Sandra," he replied. Just then, the school came into view.

"Well, here we are for another fun-filled day at Han'a High," Kento retorted sarcastically, causing everyone to laugh.

The group entered the school's main entrance and went their separate ways. Sage and Kento headed down the hallway and entered their homeroom. "Hi, Sage!" a half dozen girls chorused as they crowded around Sage. They dragged him off to the back of the classroom, as usual, and Kento took his seat up in front as usual.

"Man, this bites!" he muttered as he held his head up with his hands and watched the other students take their seats. Just then, a young Oriental woman entered the room. Her black hair was up in a bun, and she was wearing a floral print dress with matching sweater.

"Good morning, Miss Fiji," all of the students responded as the teacher took her seat.

"Good morning, everyone," Ms. Fiji replied as she looked up at the students. "I have a few announcements to make, but I must do the attendance first." She pulled out her attendance sheet and looked down the list. "Looks like everyone's here," she muttered out loud. "Wait a minute!" She looked up and asked, "Is there a Miss Kimberly Ashe here today?" No one responded to the name. "Once again, is Kimberly Ashe here?" Still, no one responded.

Just then, a sixteen-year-old girl approached the open door and leaned against the doorframe. Her reddish-brown hair hung about in several thin braids and accented her light brown skin. She was wearing an orange-and-white flannel shirt over a white T-shirt, baggy jeans, black combat boots, and sunglasses.

"Are you Kimberly Ashe?" Ms. Fiji asked.

"That'd be me," the girl replied with a heavy New York accent.

"You'll have to remove your sunglasses," Ms. Fiji told her sternly. "They're not permitted on school grounds." Kimberly mumbled something as she removed her glasses, revealing hazel brown eyes. "Thank you. You can take a seat now," Ms. Fiji said, indicating an empty desk next to Kento. Kimberly sat down and adjusted the yellow bandanna around her forehead.

"Now, for today's announcements," Ms. Fiji continued, picking up a piece of paper from her desk. " 'We have a couple of sports tryouts this week: soccer on Wednesday and field hockey on Friday.' " Just then, the bell rang, ending homeroom. "That's all for today. See you tomorrow," Ms. Fiji replied as everyone gathered their things and left...

During the five-minute break before third period, Sage waited for Kento, who was digging through his locker for something. "Come on, hurry it up, Kento," Sage said impatiently, "or we're gonna be late."

Suddenly, a small avalanche of books and other items fell out of Kento's locker. "Aww, man!" he grumbled as he struggled to pick up everything. Sage helped him out by picking up a couple of books. As Kento shoved everything back in his locker, Sage noticed something next to his foot: a Twinkie snack cake. As he picked up, Kento snatched it from him. "Thanks, Sage. I've been looking for that."

"A Twinkie, Kento?" Sage asked sarcastically as they walked down the hall. "You can't wait till lunch? Oh, yeah. Forgot who I was talking to."

Kento looked at him angrily as he unwrapped the Twinkie and took a bite. "You know, you're not allowed to eat food in the hallways," Sage reminded his husky friend.

"I never been caught before," Kento replied in a muffled voice. Sage snickered as he swallowed the food.

Just then, Sage saw something in the corner of his eye and turned around. There was Kim, walking down the hall toward them with some books in her arms. She stopped a few yards away from where they stood and worked on her locker combination.

Kento turned around to see what Sage was looking at and groaned. "Come on, Casanova! Give it up for once and let some other guy have a chance at getting a girlfriend," he complained.

Sage snickered and replied, "And let my reputation get soiled? I don't think so."

"Your reputation already got soiled when Sandra told you off," Kento reminded him. "Besides, she doesn't seem like your type."

"Why? Because she's black?" Sage asked. "I've learned to look past the color lines for a long time, Kento. If my parents didn't do the same, I wouldn't be here. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Kento watched as Sage casually walked to Kim, who was putting some books in her locker, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked up for a moment, then returned her attention to her locker. "Whassup," she said to Sage.

"Oh, not much," Sage replied.

"No, 'whassup' is slang. I wasn't asking you 'what's up?', I was saying 'hello'!"

"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Sage told Kim. "You're Kimberly, right?"

"Like I been telling everyone all day," Kim replied in an annoyed tone, "it's Kim, all right?"

"Sorry, Kim," Sage apologized, correcting himself. As Kim shut her locker after pulling out a small plastic bag, Sage leaned against the locker next to hers, so he could look into her eyes. That's when Sage first noticed the silver nose ring. "Listen, Kim," he started, "if you're not doing anything after school, maybe I can take you to the city and show you around."

"Should I be flattered?" Kim asked, looking straight at him.

"Well, a lot of girls in your position would just jump at the opportunity," Sage admitted, grinning at her.

"Oh, is that so?" Kim replied smugly, pretending to be interested. Before Sage could say anything, he got an unexpected surprise. Kim slammed him face first into the lockers and pinned both of his arms behind his back with one hand. Sage struggled to break loose, but was unsuccessful.

"Listen to me," Kim whispered in his ear, "I don't play 'round like that. You best be leaving me alone, or I'll make your life a living nightmare. Ya got me?"

She let go of Sage's arms, picked up her bag from the floor, and smacked Sage upside the head before leaving. She walked past Kento, who was red in the face and was obviously trying to hold in his laughter. Sage got up from the floor and after checking his nose to see if it was bleeding, he walked toward Kento.

Kento tried his hardest, but he could no longer contain himself. By the time Sage reached him, he was already halfway bent over, laughing very abruptly. Fortunately, for Sage, there was no one in the halls to hear Kento's laughing.

"Are you done yet?" Sage asked sarcastically. Kento nodded his head yes, but as they walked down the hallway, he continually snickered.

"Kento, you better not tell anybody about this," Sage warned him.

"I don't think it would matter anyway," Kento pointed out. "You know news like this spreads around this school like wildfire."

"I know. That's what I'm worried about," Sage muttered out loud enough for Kento to hear. Just then, the bell rang.

"Aww, man!" they exclaimed as they ran down the empty hall...

It was third period in the gym. Sage and Kento were sitting on their knees on a large mat, along with a dozen other boys. They were all wearing traditional martial arts uniforms: the long white pants and the white jackets. Sage and Kento were the only ones with black belts; everyone else had brown belts. Everyone looked up as their instructor entered the gym. His long black hair was securely tied into a braid, and he wore the traditional black uniform of a martial arts instructor.

"Good morning, Sensei Chin," the class greeted as he took his in front of them.

"Greetings to you all, my students," Sensei Chin said. "Before we start, I have an announcement to make. We have a new student joining our class."

"Well, where is he?" one of the students asked.

"SHE is getting changed in the girls' locker room," Sensei Chin replied. This response caused a chain reaction of cheering and clapping.

"It's about time, don't you think?" Kento whispered to Sage, who nodded in approval.

Just then, Kim entered the gym, wearing a white martial arts uniform and a black belt. When the students saw her, the applause died down and Sage muttered, "Oh, no! Not her!"

Kim approached Sensei Chin and bowed to him respectfully. "Welcome to our class, Kim-san," Sensei Chin said as Kim stood up. "If possible, could you tie your hair back?"

"Sure, no problem," Kim said as she removed her bandanna and used it to tie her braids back into a ponytail.

"Okay, now it's time to divide you into groups of three," Sensei Chin announced as everyone stood up. "Kim-san," he addressed Kim, "you'll be with Date and Fuan." He pointed at Sage and Kento, who had already separated from the rest of the class. Kim smirked as she headed toward the two black belts, while Sensei Chin continued to divide up the class into groups.

"Well, well, nice to see you again," Kim retorted sinisterly to Sage. "Just 'cause we in this class together don't mean I'll go easy on you." Kento snickered when he heard this. "And who are you?" Kim asked, looking at him.

"Oh, my name's Kento Rei Fuan," he said, extending his hand.

"Yeah, whassup," Kim greeted as she shook his hand.

"Now, I would like everyone to do their stretches," Sensei Chin announced.

As they sat down on the mat and started their stretches, Kim asked, "So, Kento, you and what's-his-name hang out?"

"Yeah, we're good friends," he admitted, "and his name's Sage."

"I can't believe that someone like you be hanging out with this loser," Kim replied, causing him to snicker.

"Be careful about what you say about the 'Flirting King'," Kento warned her.

" 'Flirting King'?" Kim repeated. She looked at Sage and remarked sarcastically, "Who do you think you are, Don Juan or something?"

Sage didn't bother to answer as they stood up. "I'll get the paddles," he told Kento as he headed toward Sensei Chin, who had a box full of large paddles.

"So, what we doing next?" Kim asked Kento.

"Don't you know? I thought you had classes in martial arts," Kento replied, a bit surprised.

"Well, you see, I did take classes, but they don't teach 'em at school," she told him.

"What we're gonna do are standard exercises," Kento explained. "You practice your kicks and punches on those paddles. Each of us gets five minutes, then we swap paddles and the next person practices, and so on."

"Got it," Kim replied as Sage approached them, carrying a paddle in each hand.

"You may begin now," Sensei Chin announced.

Sage stood ready, holding the paddles firmly in his hands. "As I always say, 'ladies first', " Kento said, gesturing for Kim to start.

"Gee, Kento," Sage retorted sarcastically, "I thought you always said, 'When's lunch'?"

Kento gave him a dirty look as Kim bowed respectfully to Sage and stood ready. She started off with a few punches, followed by a roundhouse kick. Kento watched in amazement as Kim continued with her punch-and-kick pattern. She knocked one of the paddles out of Sage's hand with a punch, and to his surprise, she performed a roundhouse kick that nailed him right in the stomach. The force of the impact sent Sage straight to the mat. Kento stood there with his mouth open as Kim helped Sage up. "Sorry 'bout that," Kim apologized. "Got carried away."

"No kidding," Sage groaned, holding his side.

When they looked up, Sensei Chin was standing in front of them. "Are you all right, Sage-san?" he asked Sage.

"I'm okay, Sensei," Sage answered.

"I'm real sorry 'bout this, Sensei."

"Calm down, Kim-san." Sensei Chin returned his attention to Sage. "Why don't you sit down and rest?" Sage nodded, walked over to a cleared section of mat, and sat down. "I must say," Sensei Chin told Kim, "your moves are quite impressive. You have been trained well."

"What makes you think that?" Kim asked.

"Sage Date is our top student," Sensei Chin explained. "You took him down by surprise. He didn't see it coming. Keep up the good work." He walked back to the front of the class and announced, "All right, everyone. Let's continue."

Kim picked up the paddles and sparred with Kento...

Kim was walking down the hall toward her locker. She had a few minutes before the bell would ring for the start of sixth period. She worked on the combination, got her locker open, and pulled out her lunch bag.

Just then, Kim felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to face Noriko and five of her friends. "Hey, whassup," she said to them.

"Let's skip the introductions and get to the point," Noriko replied coldly. "My friends and I have heard an ugly rumor that you slammed Sage Date's face into a locker."

Kim snickered and admitted, "Whoa, news here sure spreads fast!"

The girls, including Noriko, were shocked when they heard this. "So then, it's true?" Noriko asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, so what?" Kim replied. "I don't like guys who flirt like it's an Olympic event."

"Yeah, right," Noriko proclaimed boldly. "Sage would never flirt with someone like you."

"And what do ya mean by that?" Kim asked loudly.

Noriko was intimidated for a moment, but she didn't back down. "I'm not gonna let you get away with what you did to Sage," Noriko told her.

Kim put her lunch bag on the ground and stared down at Noriko. "Are you threatening me?" she asked abruptly. She snickered as she looked at Noriko.

"What's so funny?" she asked as Kim rolled up her sleeve.

"Oh, nothing," Kim replied. "I was trying to figure how a scrawny little thing like yourself could even stand a chance against this." She flexed her bicep to prove her point.

Noriko was obviously frightened, along with her friends. "Listen, it's a school day, and I'm busy after school, so what do you say we put this behind us and pretend this never happened, okay?" Noriko suggested.

Kim was silent for a moment, as though she was thinking about Noriko's proposition. "Aww, hell," she finally agreed. "What do you say we shake on it?"

Kim extended her hand to Noriko. She hesitated for a moment, but Noriko eventually shook Kim's hand. Just to scare her even more, Kim squeezed Noriko's hand hard.

"Oww!" Noriko shouted as she pulled her hand away. She looked at her friends and told them, "Come on, girls." As they left, Kim pulled her sleeve back down, grabbed her lunch bag, and left...

Lunch had already started in the cafeteria. Kento was sitting at a table, waiting for his friends to arrive. "Hey, Kento!" Cye greeted as he, Ryo, and Rowen approached the table and sat down.

"Where's Sage?" Ryo asked Kento.

Kento replied by pointing at the hot lunch line. Sage was near the end of the line, chatting with a couple of girls. "Wow! He takes a licking and keeps on ticking," Kento murmured under his breath.

"What was that, Kento?" Rowen asked.

"Nothing," Kento said sternly. His friends looked at him curiously. "What?" Kento asked innocently.

"Something happened to Sage today," Cye said, "and you're not telling us."

"Nothing happened to Casanova today, I swear," Kento denied. Kento decided to try and change the subject. "Hey, did any of you meet the new girl?" he asked.

They all shook their heads no, and Ryo asked, "What new girl?"

"Kim Ashe," Kento explained. "She was in my homeroom, and also in my martial arts class."

"What a surprise! I thought there were only guys in your class," Rowen replied.

"Well, not anymore," Kento retorted. "Are you sure you never seen Kim? She would stand out from the other girls here."

"And why would she stand out?" Cye asked curiously.

"She's black," Kento replied. "Or, at least I think she's black."

"What do you mean by that?" Ryo asked. "Either she's black or she's not."

"Well, I'm not exactly sure..." Kento said slowly and thoughtfully.

"How can you not be sure?" Rowen asked.

"Well, I've seen pictures of Africans in my history book," Kento explained. "Kim, she's not as dark as them and her hair isn't black and frizzy."

"Well, maybe her skin cells don't produce enough melanin," Rowen theorized.

"What did you say?" Kento asked, obviously confused.

"Melanin," Rowen repeated. "It's a pigment in your skin. Generally, Africans are born with a lot of melanin in their skin. That's why they're so dark. The amount of melanin varies from person to person. For example, you and Ryo have more melanin than Cye, Sage, and me. The two of you are darker than the rest of us."

"Oh!" Kento replied, nodding his head. Just then, he saw Kim enter the cafeteria. "Look, there she is!" Kento exclaimed. He waved his arm in the air to get her attention. "Hey, Kim!" he shouted.

Kim turned her head and headed toward the table. "Hey, Kento, what up!" she greeted as she slapped hands with Kento.

"I'm all right," Kento replied as they sat down. "Kim, these are my friends: Ryo Sanada, Cye Mouri, and Rowen Hashiba."

"Yeah, whassup," Kim said to them.

"Nice to meet you, Kim," Cye greeted.

Kim turned to Kento and asked, "Is Don Juan around?"

"Sage is still in the lunch line," Kento replied, "but he'll be out in a few minutes. Why?"

"I got some important business to discuss with him," Kim replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of important business?" Rowen asked.

"Well, it's gotta do with some gal I ran into just a few minutes ago," Kim explained. "She was all up in my face."

"Let me guess: long black hair and steel gray eyes, right?" Rowen asked.

"Ya know her?" Kim asked.

"Her name's Noriko. She's the leader of Sage's past girlfriends," Cye explained. "She feels she earned that title 'cause so far, her relationship with Sage lasted the longest. Go ahead, continue."

"Anyway, she went all psycho on me 'cause she heard about me slamming Sage into the lockers. Boy, I tell ya, news spreads fast here." Ryo, Cye, and Rowen were in shock. "What's up with y'all?" Kim asked. "Let me guess. I'm the first one ever to turn down the 'Flirting King,' right?"

"No, you're the second," Ryo managed to sputter out. "It's just, we know Sage hits on girls, but you're the first one to hit him back, literally!"

Kim chuckled to herself as she opened her lunch bag. "Damn!" she exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Kento asked.

"I forgot to pack something to drink," Kim told him, "but just chill. I'll just get something from the soda machine." She got up from her seat and made her way to the other side of the cafeteria, where the soda machine was located.

Sage had finally escaped from the lunch line and sat down with his friends, never noticing Kim. "Hey, guys. How's it going?" he greeted as he sat down.

"Just fine," Cye stuttered quickly as Ryo and Rowen tried to muffle their snickering.

"What's so funny, guys?" Sage asked. As they continued to snicker, Sage stared accusingly at Kento. "You told them, didn't you?" he asked.

"No way! I swear, I didn't tell them a thing!" Kento denied.

"Then, how did they find out, Kento?" Sage asked accusingly. Kim arrived back at the table with a can of soda in her hand. As she sat back down, Sage groaned and asked; "You told them?"

"If you talking 'bout that thing where I slammed your face in a locker, yeah," Kim replied. Sage buried his face in his hands as his friends laughed about it.

"Listen up, Don Juan," Kim started. "This girl of yours, Noriko, she was like all in my face a few minutes ago. Obviously, word spread about... you know, and she wasn't happy 'bout it."

Sage took in a deep breath before he told Kim, "Look, the only advice I can give you is to just leave it alone. Noriko's like that to every girl."

"So, she's like a straight-out racist to every girl she meets?" Kim asked, catching Sage by surprise.

"Hold on. Noriko, a racist? You sure you weren't hearing things?" Sage asked.

"Not the way I heard it," Kim admitted. "Look, she wanted to know why I did what I did. When I told her it was 'cause you was hitting on me, Noriko said, and these were her exact words, 'Sage would never flirt with someone like you'. She didn't say it straight out, but I know she meant that you would never flirt with a black girl." Everyone sitting at the table was completely silent.

"Look, Kim, I apologize for what Noriko said to you," Sage told her.

"Seriously, Sage," Cye suggested, "you ought to have a talk with Noriko about this."

"Ya know, I should've expected this kind of behavior," Kim interrupted. "I'm like the only one at this school with dark skin. No offense, you two," she told Kento and Ryo, "but I know you weren't born with that tan."

Everyone at the table was silent for a few moments, until Cye decided to break the ice. "So, Kim, where are you from?"

"I'm from the Big Apple: New York City," Kim replied. "Originally from da Bronx suburbs. Weren't exactly perfect, but hey, home is home."

Just then, the bell rang, ending lunch period...

The end of school had finally arrived. Kento was waiting outside, along with Ryo, Cye, Sage, Rita, Sandra, and Clara. They were all gathered under the shade of the oak tree, except for Kento, who was keeping a lookout for Rowen. He didn't see Rowen yet, but he did spot a certain girl. "Hey, Kim!" he shouted. "Over here!"

As soon as Kim spotted him, she headed over to the oak tree. "Hey, boy, whassup!" she said, lightly punching him on the shoulder.

"Why did you punch him?" Cye asked curiously.

"It's a ghetto form of greeting your posse, your friends," Kim explained.

"Kim, this is Rita Niitsu, Sandra O'Brien, and Clara Garson," Kento said, introducing her to the girls. "Girls, this is Kim Ashe."

"Nice to meet you, Kim," Clara greeted, extending her hand to Kim.

"Yeah, same here," Kim said as she shook Clara's hand.

"So, Kim, you're the gal everyone's talking 'bout," Sandra exclaimed. "I must say, it's an honor to meet ya."

"Really? What for?" Kim asked, slightly confused.

"I heard that you smacked his face into a locker," Sandra explained, jerking her thumb at Sage. "Personally, I think he deserved that." Sage covered his face in embarrassment.

"So, what y'all standing 'round here for?" Kim asked.

"We're waiting for Rowen," Ryo explained.

"Y'all going down that road?" she asked, pointing at the main road leading away from Han'a High.

"Yeah, we all do," Ryo answered.

"Looks like I'll be joining y'all," Kim said.

"Really?" Kento asked. "I thought you were like, you know, the lone wolf type."

"Hell, no!" Kim exclaimed. "If you're a lone wolf in New York, you're a dead man walking. It's true 'bout that 'safety in numbers' thing. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. Besides, it's my first time walking home here, and I don't wanna get lost out in Nowhere-ville."

Just then, Rowen left the school and joined them. "About time, Rowen!" Kento shouted. "We've been waiting forever for you!"

"Well, I'm here now, so let's leave," Rowen told him. The group of nine left the shelter of the oak tree and headed down the main road leading away from Han'a High School.

"Yo, Sage?" Kim asked.

"Yes?"

"I guess I should like apologize for knocking you up twice in one day," Kim explained.

"Hold on a minute! There was a second time?" Cye asked out of shock.

"Yeah, there was," Sage quickly murmured. He turned back toward Kim. "You don't need to apologize, Kim. I'll admit, I was out of line."

"Yeah, I do, Sage," Kim told him. "Straight-up, I thought you was the player-type."

"The player-type?" Ryo asked. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you see, a player is usually some dude," Kim explained, "but a girl could be a player, too. Anyway, a player would go up to a girl and go, 'Hey, baby! Whassup!' They'd be flirting with you and acting all nice and stuff when, truth is they just wanna get with you horizontally. Ya know what I'm saying?" Kim looked at Sage and said, "Ya know, after checking you out, I know now that you ain't no player. You are nowhere near being a player."

"How do you know so much 'bout 'the player-type,' Kim?" Sandra asked.

"I admit, some of my homeys are straight-up players," Kim admitted. She noticed the way everyone was looking at her. "If y'all wondering, I never hooked up with one of 'em. Even if you think you know a player, you don't exactly know where he's been."

Rowen interrupted by announcing, "Here's our stop, guys."

"See you later," Ryo said as Rowen, Sage, and Sandra headed down their street.

As Ryo, Cye, Kento, Clara, Rita, and Kim continued down the main road, Rita asked, "I'm curious. What was it like for you, Kim, living in New York City?"

Kim didn't answer right away. "It was all right, despite living in the suburbs," she finally said. "I remember when we started out, we could only afford a one-bedroom apartment. Pops was finishing up law school, and Ma was working, so we didn't have a lot to begin with. The 'hood was bad, really bad. There was like four or five gangs there, and like every other night, you'd hear all this shooting and screaming. It was like 'Nightmare on Elm Street' or something. When Pops finished school, he got a job with this big international law firm. As Ma said, we was 'moving on up like the Jeffersons'. We moved to a better neighborhood and into a bigger apartment. Ma quit her job and stayed home taking care of me and my brother and sisters."

"That sounds like a big family," Cye remarked.

"Six ain't a big deal," Kim retorted, "and I don't mean six kids. There's Pops, Ma, me, my brother, and my twin sisters."

"So, how did you end up moving all the way here to Japan?" Clara asked.

"Well, a couple of weeks ago, my pops got this huge promotion from his job," Kim explained. "Like I said before, this law firm he worked for is international. They wanted him to be a representative for the firm here. And ya know what that means: in order for him to take the job, the whole family had to move out here."

"Do you miss your home? I mean, your old home, in New York?" Cye asked.

"Yeah, of course I miss it! Why wouldn't I?" Kim shouted. She took a deep breath and said, "Sorry 'bout that, Cye. You was just asking. I'm definitely gonna miss rapping with my homeys."

"Rapping? Is that slang for something?" Rita asked.

"Not in this case," Kim told her. "Sometimes, when my homeys and I would get together, we would freeverse. That's a type of rapping that you make up as you're going along."

"Hey, can we hear some?" Kento asked.

"Well, I don't feel like making up something right now," Kim replied, "but I can do one that I did a few months ago. It's still up in my head."

"Cool! Let's hear it," Kento said.

"All right, but I'll warn ya. It's only like ten lines." She started to bob her head a bit, like she was listening to a steady rhythm in her head, before she started:

"Who gots the flo', who gots the flo'

Grab the microphone and let your funky lyrics go

Here I go on the microphone, about to wreck it

You thought a female M.C. couldn't do it, but now check it

If the blues is what you choose, I'll kick it Count Basie style

But if bebop is what you rock, I'll kick the Monk or some Miles

Won't grab no Phillies, my style is willing if you let me

Or if I choose to 'cause women's lib said I don't have to

So think again before you test a sister, 'cause with my girls behind me

We got lots of power, mister."

When Kim finished, there was complete silence that followed. "Well, don't just stand there gawking," she said. "What did y'all think?"

"Well, I personally didn't catch all of the words," Clara admitted, "but it sounded good."

"Seriously, you made that up?" Kento asked.

"Yeah, so?" Kim asked.

"That was so awesome!" he blurted out. "I don't think anyone around here could do that!"

"For real?" Kim asked. Just then, they arrived at another street corner. "Looks like this is my stop," Kim muttered out loud, looking at the street sign.

"Really? So do we," Kento admitted, indicating himself, Cye, and Clara.

"See you tomorrow, everyone," Ryo said as he and Rita left.

"Yeah, peace out," Kim told them as she, Kento, Cye, and Clara headed down the street.

"Hey, Kim?" Kento asked.

"Yeah?"

"Is your new home a two-floor, white house with dark green trim?"

"Yeah, so?" Kim asked.

"Looks like we're neighbors," Kento admitted. "That house is right next- door to mine."

"For real? Cool!" Kim said.

As Kim's house came into view, Kento started sniffing the air. "What are you doing?" Cye asked, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Something smells good," Kento replied, giving Cye a dirty look.

"Ma must be making sweet potato pie," Kim admitted as she took in a deep breath.

"Sweet potato pie?" Kento repeated. "That sounds weird: putting potatoes in a pie."

"Might sound weird, but it tastes great!" Kim proclaimed.

"You think I could get a slice?" Kento asked.

Kim thought about it for a moment. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to ask," she finally said. As the foursome approached the house, two eleven-year-old girls and an eight-year-old boy were seen sitting on the porch steps. The children were as dark as Kim, but their hair was black and frizzy. The girls were wearing matching red-and-black checkered dresses with black tennis shoes, and the boy was wearing jeans and a green T-shirt.

One of the girls looked up and spotted Kim. She elbowed her sister and said, "Look! She's here!"

The little boy went inside and yelled, "Mama, Kim's home!"

The two girls ran up the road and embraced their older sister. "Hey, get off me, ya little rugrats!" Kim shouted as the girls giggled and let her go. "Ya know, Mama's gonna be mad at you if she found out you ran down the road like that," she pointed out.

"Please, don't tell her, Kim, please!" the girls pleaded simultaneously.

"Don't worry," Kim told them. "She won't hear anything from me." The girls smiled at her and ran back to the porch.

"Who are they?" Kento asked.

"Those were my twin sisters," Kim explained. "The one on the left is Jasmine, and the other one's Janice."

"How are you able to tell them apart?" Cye asked as they walked over to her house.

"Well, there are little things, like birth marks, beauty marks, dimples...stuff like that."

"And who was that little boy who ran into the house?" Clara asked.

"That was Derrick," Kim told her. "He's kinda shy 'round people. That's why he bolted into the house."

When Kim, Kento, Cye, and Clara reached the porch, the front door opened. A young black woman in her early thirties stepped out onto the porch, with Derrick hiding behind her. She was wearing a short-sleeved white blouse, a long black skirt, and black tennis shoes. "Hey, Kim," she greeted with a southern drawl. "How was your first day of school?"

"It was all right, Ma," Kim replied. "These are some guys I met at school: Kento, Cye, and Clara."

"Pleasure to meet y'all," Mrs. Ashe greeted. "Would ya like to come inside and have some sweet potato pie? It's straight outta the oven."

"Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. Ashe," Cye said, "but we should be on our way."

"Well, how's about I send y'all home with a slice?"

"Sure! That'd be great!" Kento exclaimed with a big grin on his face.

"Now, y'all just wait here a minute, and I'll be right back." Mrs. Ashe went back in the house, followed by Derrick and the twins. Kim sat down on the porch steps while everyone else stood up.

"Your mother's a very nice woman," Cye commented.

"Thanks," Kim replied. "It's all part of her Southern hospitality."

"Where is she from?" Kento asked.

"Kentucky. She was raised on a farm." Kim was looking around and spotted a gold-colored van in the driveway of the neighboring house. "That your house, Kento?" she asked, jerking her thumb at the house.

"Yeah," Kento replied.

"Whose van is that?"

"It's mine," he admitted. "I know it doesn't look that good from the outside, but it runs like a tank."

As they were talking, a nice black sports car pulled into the driveway. The driver's door opened, and a forty-year-old white man dressed in a three- piece business suit stepped out. His reddish-brown hair was neatly combed back and he was clean-cut. Kim looked up at the man and exclaimed, "Pops?" She got up and approached her father. "What the hell you doing here?"

"Surprised? I got out of work early," he replied in a deep voice as he hugged his daughter. He noticed Kento, Cye, and Clara standing on the porch with confused looks on their faces. "Your first day, and you already made some new friends," Mr. Ashe said. "Why don't you introduce me to them, Kim?"

"Right, Pops," Kim replied. "That's Kento, Cye, and Clara. Guys, this is my dad, the attorney."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ashe," Cye greeted after he got rid of his startled expression.

"Nice to meet you all as well," Mr. Ashe said. "Hmm... smells like your mother made sweet potato pie."

"Yup, she did," Kim replied.

"Well, I better get a slice before you all eat it up."

He went inside and Kim looked at her new friends suspiciously. "What's up with y'all?" she blurted out.

"We didn't know you were biracial," Kento admitted.

"Well, I am. Got a problem with it?" Kim said a bit defensively.

"No!" Kento denied.

Just then, Mrs. Ashe stepped onto the porch, carrying three paper plates with three pieces of pie wrapped with plastic wrap. "Here you go," she said cheerfully as she handed the plates to Kento, Cye, and Clara. "Hope y'all like it."

"Thanks, Mrs. Ashe," Kento said.

She smiled and said, "As soon as you're done talking to your friends, could you come to the kitchen, Kim?"

"Yeah, sure, Ma," she replied as her mother went back inside.

There was an awkward silence that followed. Cye broke the silence by saying, "Kim, I'm sorry about the way I reacted earlier. We're all sorry. Right, Kento? Clara?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Kim," Kento apologized.

"We didn't mean to offend you in any way," Clara replied.

Kim hesitated for a moment before replying. "It's all right," she finally said. "Y'all probably never been 'round someone like me before."

"Yeah, that's true," Kento admitted.

"Well, we ought to be going," Cye said as he, Clara, and Kento got off of the porch.

"Later," Kim said as she watched hem head down the street before going inside...

Meanwhile, Dulcea was in her throne room, watching the image of Kim standing on her porch and heading back into the house. She was so focused on the mirror, she didn't noticed her burliest warrior quietly slip into the room. "Is that her?"

Dulcea was startled a bit. She turned around to face Hardrock, with anger clearly burning in her amethyst eyes. "Don't sneak up on me ever again!" Dulcea said coldly. She abruptly turned around and quickly waved her hand over the mirror. As the images disappeared, Dulcea walked past Hardrock and sat back down at her throne. "Yes, that is the kokoro of earth," she finally answered. "In spite of her... appearance, she is surprisingly strong, despite the fact that she is still human."

"Strong? Her?" Hardrock exclaimed. He laughed abruptly at the thought of it, but he was soon silenced by Dulcea's piercing glare.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Hardrock," she told him. "I've been keeping an eye on her all day. Her warrior skills are impressive, so she'll be more difficult."

"Nothing I can't handle, Lady Dulcea," Hardrock boasted.

Dulcea narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "Go, now," she finally said. "Lure her to the Mt. Dojo National Park. You better not fail me."

Hardrock quickly bowed and left the throne room, entering a dark hallway. He suddenly stopped in his tracks. He sensed someone standing behind him. Hardrock's hand closed into a fist and he quickly turned around and slugged the stranger in the face.

He stood over Torrent, who was slowly rubbing his jaw. A small stream of blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. He looked back up at Hardrock with anger blazing in his eyes. "What did you do that for?" he yelled angrily as he struggled to stand up.

"I got a better question: What were you doing, sneaking around me like that?" Hardrock asked. "Well, at least now, you know not to do something that stupid around me again."

Torrent was no longer angry; he was now furious. "You're gonna pay for insulting me like that!" he shouted in an enraged tone.

"Why? What are you gonna do about it?" Hardrock provoked him intentionally. "I'm not afraid of you, or anybody else!"

"Are you so sure about that?"

Hardrock scowled as Wildfire and Halo emerged from the shadows. "Stay out of this, Wildfire," he muttered loud enough for him to hear. "This is none of your business."

"Maybe I should make it my business," Wildfire replied.

"You're not the boss around here," Hardrock reminded him. "You can try, but you can't intimidate me."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Hardrock," Halo retorted.

Hardrock got into his face and muttered, "Back off, or you'll hit the floor faster than Torrent."

"Better watch it, Hardrock," Wildfire warned him. "Your boastful ways could lead to your downfall." Hardrock looked at him and snickered. "If you don't mind me asking, what's so funny?" Wildfire asked.

"If you three want to worry about something, you should worry about yourselves," Hardrock replied smugly.

"And why should we?" Torrent asked.

"Lady Dulcea is angry with all of you, and you know why."

"If she only planned on having us around for destroying the kokoro before they reached their true potential," Halo retorted, "don't you think she would've gotten rid of us already? May I remind you, she is more powerful than all of us combined, so don't act all high and mighty."

His orange eyes narrowed and stared coldly at Halo's green eyes. "If you will all excuse me," he finally said, "I have an order to follow. Later, losers." Before Wildfire, Halo, or Torrent could say anything, Hardrock teleported away...

It was now around late afternoon. Kim was riding on the road on her skateboard. She pushed on the road with her foot to gain more speed. Suddenly, she heard a car horn from behind her. Kim groaned as she came over to the side of the road and got off of her skateboard. Turning around, she recognized the gold-colored van. Kim picked up her skateboard and approached the passenger door. The window rolled down, revealing Kento as the driver. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

"Hey, Kento," Kim exclaimed. "Whassup!"

"Same to you, Kim," Kento replied. "Where are you going?"

"To the park. Why?"

"Well, I'm going to be passing by there, so you want a lift?" Kento asked as he opened the door for Kim.

Kim was a bit suspicious at first, but she got over it. "All right," she finally said as she got into the front seat and closed the door. Kim laid her skateboard on her lap as Kento continued driving.

"So, Kim," Kento started to ask, "why are you heading to the park?"

"Well, I heard there's a killer ramp there," Kim explained as she repeatedly tapped on the skateboard with her fingertips. "Gotta work on some of my moves, ya know." She glanced around the van quickly, and looked at Kento before she continued. "Ya know," Kim told him, "for looking as bad as it does from the outside, this old thing runs pretty smoothly."

"Thanks," Kento said. "It was practically a steal at that rent-a-car place."

Kim had a bit of a confused look on her face. "That's weird," she mumbled to herself as she turned her head and looked out of the passenger window.

Kento looked at her and asked, "What's weird?"

"Well, it's just, I thought you said earlier today that you own this van," Kim explained, still looking out of the window.

All of a sudden, she felt a sharp blow to her head and passed out. The driver snickered sinisterly as he removed his sunglasses, revealing himself as Hardrock.

_This is too easy,_ he thought to himself as he glanced at his unconscious passenger.

"Hope you enjoy your nap, kokoro," Hardrock told her, " 'cause you'll be sleeping for a very long time." He laughed evilly as he continued driving...

Meanwhile, Kento was sitting at the kitchen table, mumbling to himself as he looked over a worksheet in front of him. "Aww, man!" he muttered to himself. "And I thought Spanish was supposed to be easy!" Kento pulled out a book from his book bag and opened it up. "Good thing I got this Spanish- English dictionary, or I would flunk Spanish big time!"

He found what he was looking for and started to jot down some words on his worksheet. Just then, the phone rang. "All right!" Kento exclaimed as he got up. "I needed a break from this anyway." He put the dictionary on the table and picked up the kitchen phone. "Hello?" he spoke into the mouthpiece.

"Hey, Kento," an all-too-familiar voice replied over the phone.

"Hey, Cye!" Kento exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"Not much," Cye answered. "Are your parents home yet?"

"No," Kento replied slowly. "They're still at the restaurant. You know they don't leave until six. What's wrong?"

"I'm calling you on Ronin Warrior business," Cye explained. "I just wanted to make sure there was no one there to overhear our conversation. Listen, have you received any sort of reaction from that ring?"

Kento pulled out the chain and quickly glanced at the ring before putting it back. "No, nothing yet," he told Cye. "Why are you asking?"

"You see, I have a bit of a suspicion as to who the kokoro of earth may be," Cye explained.

"Well, spill it! Who do you think it is?" Kento blurted out.

"Isn't it obvious, Kento?" a slightly frustrated Cye replied.

Kento thought about it for a moment until it sunk in. "No! You don't think it's... Kim, do you?"

"Yes, that's my guess."

"But, why do you think that?" Kento asked.

He heard Cye groan out of frustration. "You haven't noticed the pattern? Well, let me explain. You know how we were all separated from when Talpa first attacked us? We were found in a certain order according to the Ancient's poem. Mia found Ryo first, then they found Sage. Ryo found me next, Sage found you afterwards, and we finally found Rowen. It seems that the kokoro are being discovered in the exact same pattern. First Rita, then Sandra, and then Clara. the next kokoro we find is gonna be connected to your armor, Kento, and I feel deep inside that it's Kim."

All of a sudden, Kento felt a massive weight hanging from his neck. His head dropped down and he groaned from the unexpected additional weight. "Kento! What's wrong?" Cye shouted.

"I think - my ring - has just reacted," Kento murmured through clenched teeth.

"Quick! Pull it out from underneath your shirt!"

"Well, okay," Kento said uncertainly as he struggled to pull the ring out, "but I don't see why..." He stopped talking as he noticed the ring of Justice glowing orange in his hand. Suddenly, a beam of orange light came out from the ring. The beam projected a flat orange oval in front of Kento. Through the oval, he saw several images, all in various shades of orange.

The first image was of a gold van similar to his. Hardrock, in his full armor, was pulling an unconscious Kim out of the passenger seat. The next image showed Kim punching Hardrock in his unprotected face. The last image was of a furious Hardrock preparing to do his Iron Rock Crusher. The flat oval disappeared, and the ring of Justice stopped glowing.

Kento was so in shock over what he saw that he dropped the phone. "Kento! Are you still there? KENTO!" Cye's voice squeaked loudly from the dangling phone.

Kento snapped out of it and fumbled a bit with the phone. "Man, Cye, you were right about Kim! Sorry, but I gotta go now!" He hung up the phone, pulled his keys out of his pocket, and ran out of the house...

Meanwhile, a gold-colored van pulled up into Mt. Dojo National Park. Hardrock, now in his sub-armor, stopped the van and stepped out of the driver's seat. By the time he reached the passenger door, Hardrock was in his full armor. He opened the front door, picked up Kim, and flung her over his shoulder.

As Hardrock headed deeper into the park, Kim slowly opened her eyes. "What the hell..." she murmured to herself. She felt down in her gut that she was in some sort of danger. Kim tried punching her adductor's shoulder, but ended up bruising her knuckles on Hardrock's shoulder plate. "Damn it!" she yelled out in pain.

As she rubbed her fist with her other hand and blew on the bruises, Hardrock snickered. "So, you're awake." He turned his head around to look at her. "That was a stupid move you pulled," he sneered.

At that moment, Kim noticed her window of opportunity: Hardrock had nothing protecting his face. She clenched her good hand into a tight fist and aimed at his face with all of her strength. Kim obviously nailed him in the right spot. "Ahh!" Hardrock yelled out in pain as he covered his face with one hand. This move caused him to loosen his grip on Kim. She fell to the ground, got up, and ran away from Hardrock, who was still covering his face. She climbed up a rocky ledge and looked back at him.

Hardrock was obviously furious. Fire burned in his cold orange eyes, which were staring straight at Kim. "You're gonna pay for that!" he yelled angrily.

"Oh, yeah?" Kim shouted boldly. "Bring it on!"

Hardrock chuckled as he removed his naginata from behind him. "You'll regret saying that. IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" He twirled around his naginata and brought it down to the ground, sending tremendous jagged slabs of rock flying straight at Kim.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed as she quickly dropped down to the ground to avoid the flying boulders. A couple grazed her slightly on the back, but Kim pretty much escaped unharmed.

"You won't be able to escape this time!" Hardrock yelled as he prepared to attack her again. Before he could finish the attack, a large rock hit him square between the shoulders. Hardrock turned around and saw Kento, in his sub-armor, standing there next to his rented van.

"Let me guess," Kento said. "You call yourself Hardrock, right?" Kento jumped high over Hardrock's head and landed right in front of the ledge where Kim stood. "Are you okay?" he asked her quickly.

"I'm still here," Kim retorted. "Mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Now is not a good time, Kim!" Kento replied as he carefully watched Hardrock. "You better get out of here. Things might get a little messy."

"But, what about." Kim started.

"I'll cover you, okay?" Kento blurted out in frustration. "Now, go!" Kim hesitated for a moment before she continued to climb up the ledge. Kento returned his attention to his evil twin. "You're going down!" he declared. "Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!" After the transformation was complete, Kento withdrew his own naginata and stood ready for battle.

Hardrock stared at his adversary and snickered. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Kento of Hardrock," he sneered crudely. Enraged, Kento charged straight at him. He swung his naginata at Hardrock, but he blocked the blow with his own weapon. "Nice try," Hardrock admitted sinisterly. In a blink of an eye, he knocked Kento to the ground with a quick blow to his chin. "But, not good enough," he finished as he headed toward Kento.

While the battle between Kento and Hardrock continued, Kim was walking away from the ledge she climbed earlier. Her hands were buried in her pockets, and she was taking out her frustration by kicking small stones along the path she was taking. "Man, Kento is so dense," Kim muttered angrily to herself. "Dude don't stand a chance against him. What the hell was he thinking?"

She was about to kick another stone when she spotted something shiny resting on top of it. It was the ring of Justice. "What the...?" Kim exclaimed slowly as she bent down to take a closer look at the ring. She thought the light was from the sun's reflection, but the ring was emitting its own light. Kim carefully picked up the ring and looked at it in the palm of her hand.

As she held the ring in her hand, a narrow beam of orange light emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the kanji of Justice appeared on Kim's forehead. As she stood there, Shuno appeared at her side.

"Kimberly Ashe," he said, "I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You, my dear, are the kokoro of earth reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world from evil. Kento is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Hardrock. Do not let your anger cloud your vision. You must focus on the real threat."

After Kim shook it off, she looked around, but Shuno was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly from the raging battle. Kim looked at the ring, closed her hand over it, and headed back to the ledge...

Meanwhile, Kento was obviously getting exhausted from fighting Hardrock. He was breathing heavily, and drops of sweat ran down his face. Hardrock, on the other hand, was showing no sign of fatigue. "What's wrong, Kento of Hardrock?" he asked mockingly. "Running out of steam?" He punched Kento in the stomach forcefully, sending him flying through the air. As he landed on his back, Kento groaned loudly in pain.

"That's funny," Hardrock sneered as he approached Kento. "I'm just warming up!" He grabbed the fallen warrior of strength and lifted him up by his neck, choking him in the process. "Did that hurt?" Hardrock asked sarcastically. "Well, don't worry. Your suffering will end shortly."

"Let him go!" he heard a familiar voice shout from behind him. Hardrock turned his head and saw Kim standing on the edge of the ledge.

"I'll take care of you later," he muttered to Kento as he released him, letting him slump down to the ground. Hardrock looked back up at Kim and said, "Now, it's payback time!"

"Like to see ya try it!" Kim shouted back.

"Well, if that's what you want... IRON ROCK CRUSHER!"

Like before, Kim managed to avoid the massive slabs of rock flying at her. She landed on the ground a few yards away from Hardrock. The ring of Justice on her right hand glowed a bit before she stood up. Kim stared at Hardrock and said, "Now it's my turn to shake things up!"

"Ooo, I'm so scared," Hardrock taunted mockingly.

"Maybe ya should be," Kim replied as she made a fist with her right hand. "EARTHQUAKE!" She aimed her fist at the ground, but it stopped less than an inch away from the hard-packed earth. Her hand opened up, and the earth shook violently. Hardrock lost his footing and fell to the ground, but Kim was unaffected.

Suddenly, the earth opened up underneath Hardrock. He started to fall into the seemingly bottomless pit, but he managed to grab the edge with one hand. Hardrock glared angrily at Kim, who was looking right at him. "Don't think this is the last time we meet, kokoro," he sneered threateningly. "I'll be back!" Hardrock lost his grip and fell into the crevice before the fault line closed up on him.

The earth stopped moving soon afterward. Kim stood there for a moment, on her guard, until she saw her friend lying face-first on the ground. "Kento!" she exclaimed as she ran over to him and tried to turn him over on his back. "Man, dude, you're heavy!" Kim remarked as she tried to turn Kento over again.

"I heard that!" Kento mumbled just loud enough for Kim to overhear. She backed up a little and helped Kento get up into a sitting position. "Man, my head hurts," he muttered as he held his head in his hand.

"Your head shouldn't be the only thing hurting," Kim remarked. "That other dude had you by the throat!" She pointed out the now-visible red handprint on Kento's neck.

"Don't worry about it," Kento told her. "It won't stay there for long."

"Yeah, right," Kim retorted. "I had friends who been strangled by bare hands before, and those bruises don't go away so... easily?" She watched in shock as the red handprint on Kento's neck steadily faded away.

Kento noticed the strange way Kim was looking at him. "Kim, what's wrong?" he asked.

"How the hell did that happen?" Kim exclaimed. "The thing - it disappeared!"

"Well, when I wear my armor, I heal faster than I normally would," Kento explained as he stood up.

"Okay," Kim said a bit hesitantly as she stood up. "Now, back to my question: You mind telling me what the heck's going on here?"

"Long story," Kento replied as he closed his eyes and concentrated. He was suddenly bathed in a brilliant white light. Kim had to shield her eyes from the blinding white light.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Kento in his clothes. In his hand was a small crystal orb. Kim noticed a small symbol inside the orb, a Japanese character. "What is that?" she asked, pointing at the orb.

"That's my kanji," Kento explained as he held the orb up. "It means 'Gi,' or 'Justice'." He put the orb in his pocket and pulled out a set of car keys. "Ready to get outta here?" Kento asked.

"Hey, I've been ready," Kim retorted as they headed to Kento's van. Kento got into the driver's seat, and Kim got into the passenger seat. As Kento started up the van, Kim said, "Ya know, you should like start from the beginning."

"Well, believe it or not, this whole thing started a thousand years ago," Kento started as he pulled out of the park...TO BE CONTINUED


	6. My Pen Pal

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 6-My Pen Pal

It was Wednesday morning, yet another school day. Sage and Sandra were waiting at their street corner for their friends. Sage was leaning against the signpost, and Sandra was reading a book. "Hey, guys!" they heard Ryo shout to them.

Sandra put her book in her backpack and Sage stood up as Ryo, Cye, Kento, Clara, Rita, and Kim joined them.

"Hey, where's Rowen?" Kento asked as he took a quick look down their street. "You couldn't wake him up this time?"

"No, that's not it," Sage replied.

"The problem was Rowen wasn't there to begin with," Sandra added.

"What are you saying?" an astonished Cye asked.

"You're not gonna believe this... but Rowen already left for school," Sandra explained.

Ryo, Cye, and Kento were in shock. "No way!" Kento blurted out.

"Afraid so, Kento," Sage replied as they all started down the main road to Han'a High.

"I don't get it," Kim muttered out loud. "What's the big deal?"

"Kim, we have known Rowen for a few years," Cye explained, referring to Ryo, Sage, Kento, and himself. "He has this annoying little habit of forgetting to set his alarm clock. He always ends up being late for school. Since Sage lives on the same street, he's like Rowen's backup. If Rowen was not awake, Sage would go to his house and wake him up, which is almost every day. This was a bit of a surprise for us today. Rowen never wakes up early for school, or on time, for that matter."

"Rowen used to make up all of these stupid excuses," Kento added. "Like, 'I was up late studying', or 'My alarm clock's broken', but we knew he was lying about it. Rowen always forgets to set his alarm."

"Well, he obviously didn't forget to last night," Kim pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true," Kento muttered. "Something must be going on at school, something important."

"We'll find out soon enough, Kento," Ryo interrupted. "We're almost at the school now."

As Han'a High School came into view, Clara exclaimed, "Look! There he is!" She pointed at a wooden bench near the front entrance. There was Rowen, looking a bit nervous about something as he looked down at the concrete pathway.

To everyone's surprise, particularly the guys, Rowen wasn't wearing his typical wardrobe, which normally consisted of blue jeans and a bright blue shirt with the raised lime green collar. He was dressed very conservatively today. Rowen was wearing a nice pair of pale blue stonewashed jeans, a cobalt blue dress shirt, and a pale blue stonewashed denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Good morning, Rowen," Rita greeted him.

Startled by the unexpected greeting, Rowen jumped up like a nervous rabbit. "Oh, umm... hi, guys," he stuttered as he attempted to compose himself. He noticed that Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye were looking at him strangely.

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Rowen, can we talk to you, privately?" Sage asked.

"Sure, I guess," Rowen replied.

Sage, along with Ryo, Kento, and Cye, entered the school, with Rowen following behind. Sage was looking around the halls when he found what he was looking for: a wooden door marked MEN'S ROOM. "Right in here," he announced as he entered the bathroom, followed by the others.

Rowen closed the door behind him and looked at his friends. "What's going on?" he asked as he stood next to Sage. "You're all behaving rather strangely."

"We're acting strange, Rowen?" Sage exclaimed. "What about you? You actually remembered to set your alarm, you leave for school early, and you're dressed up like we're having a school dance or something."

"So? What's wrong with dressing up a bit?" Rowen defended himself.

"Nothing," Sage admitted. "It's just that you never dress up for anything, not even for the yearbook photos."

Kento suddenly approached the window and opened it up as wide as he could. "Come on, Kento," Cye retorted. "It doesn't smell that bad in here."

Kento turned to Sage and retorted, "Next time, could you ease up on the cologne? It reeks!"

"I'm not wearing any, Kento," Sage replied.

All eyes fell on Rowen, who was just standing there with his hands in his pockets. When he noticed the accusing stares, he smiled nervously and turned on the water at the sink.

"You're wearing cologne, Rowen?" Kento blurted out as Rowen washed his face.

"Yeah, so?" he replied as he grabbed a paper towel and dried his face.

"Okay, that does it!" Kento exclaimed. "Who are you, and what have you done with our friend?"

Rowen chuckled a bit at his friend's antics. "Kento, it's really me," he assured him. "I'm the one and only Rowen Hashiba."

"There's gotta be a reason why you're dressed up, and you're not leaving until we find out!" Kento declared loudly.

"Well, you're going to have to make an educated guess about it, because I don't plan on telling you," Rowen proclaimed with his arms crossed.

Kento was obviously thinking long and hard about it. A big smirk came to his face as he looked up at Rowen. "Okay," he muttered as he approached Rowen. "You're gonna challenge Sage for the title of 'Flirting King'!"

Everyone, including Rowen, laughed at Kento's suggestion. "Yeah, right, Kento," Rowen managed to get out in between laughing.

"Are they having the yearbook photos done earlier this year?" Cye asked.

"No way, Cye," Ryo replied. "Yearbook pictures are always in mid-October, and everyone would have known if they changed the date. Besides, Rowen never dressed up for that."

"You got any better ideas, Ryo?" Kento retorted.

Ryo thought about it for a moment. "Do you... have a crush on a teacher?" he asked uncertainly.

Rowen laughed abruptly. "I don't think so," he replied. "I only have two female teachers. One's married, and both are well over twice my age."

Ryo groaned out of frustration. "Your turn," he told Sage, who was leaning against the pale blue tile-covered windowsill.

Sage's eyes were closed, as though he was mediating. A small smile formed on his face as he opened his eyes. "I think I know," Sage announced.

"This ought to be good," Rowen retorted as he looked at Sage.

"It has something to do with a girl, right?" Sage asked. Rowen felt his cheeks turning red. He tried to turn away before anyone could see, but it was too late.

"Look, he's blushing!" Sage pointed out. "I knew it! I knew it had to be a girl!"

Ryo, Kento, and Cye were shocked beyond belief. "You have a crush on a girl? At this school?" Kento blurted out.

"I thought you said a while back, that you're not interested in someone who had to carry around a dictionary in order to understand you," Cye reminded him.

"Well, that's still true," Rowen admitted, "and it's not a crush, Kento! We're just friends."

"Care to tell us about this 'friend' of yours?" Sage asked. "Do we know her?"

"Well, odds are you don't know her," Rowen started. "She lives in Los Angeles."

"And how would you know a girl from L.A.?" Kento asked, slightly confused.

"We were pen pals since the second grade," Rowen explained.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sage exclaimed. "Tell us about her!"

"Well, to start off, her name is Roxanna Rodriguez," Rowen started. "Her father's originally from Mexico, and her mother's American. Surprisingly, Roxanna and I have a lot in common with each other."

"Oh, really?" Ryo asked. "Like what?"

"Oy, there's so much," Rowen muttered to himself. "To start off, our parents are divorced. We both live with our mothers and both of our fathers left us. As you know, my dad high-tailed it back to Australia. Her father went back to Mexico. We both excel in school, and we both have remarkably high IQs."

"How smart is she, anyway?" Kento prodded. Rowen hesitated for a moment. He muttered something under his breath, but he said it too quickly for anyone to understand. "What?" Kento asked.

"Two-seventeen," Rowen muttered a little louder.

"Did you say two-seventeen?" Cye asked. Rowen hesitantly nodded his head.

Kento gave a low whistle. "Whoa, that's high! Isn't yours, like, forty points higher or something?"

"Thirty-three points higher, to be precise," Rowen corrected him.

"Good thing Roxanna doesn't go to this school," Ryo joked. "She'd probably give you a run for your money."

Rowen smiled a bit before replying, "Well, Ryo, things are going to change, starting today."

"Hold on!" Sage interrupted. "Are you saying she's coming here?"

"Yes, she is," Rowen replied. "In a letter from last week, she wrote that her mother got an executive position at a major business corporation located in Tokyo. Roxanna also mentioned that they already purchased a home right here in Toyama. Plus, her new home is right on my street! She's even going to our school! Today's gonna be her first day."

"Well, you're obviously excited about it," Sage pointed out.

"Anyway, I'm supposed to meet her outside today, before school starts," Rowen added. "That's why I came here earlier than usual."

"So, what does she look like?" Kento asked impatiently.

"Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea," Rowen admitted.

"You don't even know what she looks like?" Cye asked out of shock. "Don't you send each other pictures?"

"Well, the only pictures we have of each other are from the second grade," he confessed. "You see, you're probably not aware of this, but there's a law here in Japan requiring that all photographs be sent via Federal Express. It was a new law around the time we started writing to each other."

"Do you at least have an idea what she looks like?" Ryo asked.

"Roxanna has tan skin, dark frizzy hair, blue eyes..." Rowen started to describe.

"Blue eyes?" Sage repeated.

"Hard to believe, but it's true," Rowen admitted. "Let's see," he muttered to himself. "Her braces should be gone by now..." Just then, the first bell rang. "Oh, no!" Rowen cried out as he ran straight out of the bathroom.

By the time Ryo and the others caught up with Rowen, he was frantically searching the crowd of students that entered Han'a High School. He groaned out of frustration when he spotted Rita and Clara walking away. "Rita! Clara!" Rowen shouted as he made his way toward them.

Rita stopped and turned around, followed by Clara. "What is it, Rowen?" Rita asked.

"Have you seen a girl around your age, tan, dark frizzy hair, blue eyes?" Rowen asked.

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that," she replied.

"Me, neither, Rowen," Clara added. "Why do you ask?"

Rowen sighed out of disappointment. "Never mind," he muttered.

"Well, if I do see a girl fitting that description, I'll let you know. Okay?" Rita reassured him.

"Fine," he muttered before Rita left with Ryo.

Rowen walked down the hallway to his homeroom, along with Cye and Clara. "Don't be so sad, Rowen," Clara told him.

"Don't worry about Roxanna," Cye assured him. "You'll see her today. I'm sure of it."

"Why are you so sure, Cye?" Rowen asked.

"Well, think about it. If Roxanna is as smart as you say she is, odds are she'll end up in at least one of your classes."

"Yeah, you're right," Rowen agreed cheerfully as they continued down the hall...

Rowen was sitting quietly at his desk for his first period class: Calculus. While he was reading over his notes, everyone else was talking to their friends and goofing off. When the door opened and their teacher, a fifty- year-old woman wearing a white blouse and long navy blue dress pants, entered the room, everyone quickly quieted down and got back to their seats.

"Good morning, Mrs. Elberg," the class chorused.

"Good morning everyone," Mrs. Elberg replied pleasantly as she took her seat and put her portfolio on top of her desk. She opened the portfolio, put on a pair of gold-rimmed reading glasses, and looked through a pile of papers in her portfolio. "Okay," she muttered quietly as she pulled out a small pile of papers and got up. "I have your tests from last week," Mrs. Elberg announced. As she began to pass them out, there were some groans as some students saw their grades. "I'm afraid that some of you will have to study better for the next test." As she approached Rowen, she added, "However, a few of you have done exceptionally on this test." When Mrs. Elberg handed Rowen his test, she whispered, "Excellent job, Rowen. Keep up the good work." Rowen looked at the '100' written in red on the right corner of his test and smiled a bit.

"Teacher's pet," he heard a student sitting behind him murmur.

"Now, there will be none of that!" Mrs. Elberg snapped at the student. He kept his mouth shut as Mrs. Elberg sat back down.

"Now that everyone has their tests back..." Mrs. Elberg was interrupted by the door being opened. A young boy, possibly a freshman or a sophomore, stood in the open doorway, completely exhausted from running. "Is there something wrong?" Mrs. Elberg asked as she stood up.

"There's... a fight... outside, Mrs. Elberg," the boy managed to get out between gulps of air.

"Show me where," she told the boy as she started to follow him out into the hall. Before she left, Mrs. Elberg looked at Rowen and asked, "Would you mind keeping an eye on the class for me, Rowen?"

"No problem, Mrs. Elberg," he replied. With that, Mrs. Elberg and the boy left the room. All of her students, except for Rowen, immediately got up and crowded around the window.

The chattering got so mingled that only a few things could be heard clearly now and then. "Hey, watch it!"

"I can't see!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Don't I know that kid?"

"Get outta the way!"

"Make me!"

Rowen shook his head as he put his test away in a pocket folder. He heard the still open door squeak a bit, and he looked up to see a young Hispanic girl trying to close the door with her arms full. A thin navy blue head wrap kept most of her curly dark brown hair out of her face. She was dressed quite properly, in a traditional schoolgirl look. She was wearing a short-sleeved white blouse, a navy blue pleated skirt with a matching sweater tied around her shoulders, white knee socks, and black Mary Jane shoes.

When he first saw the new girl, one thought immediately came to Rowen's mind: _Roxanna?_ He got out of his seat and approached the girl, whose back was still facing him.

Just then, the young girl turned around. Startled by seeing him standing there, she gasped slightly and dropped her binder, notebook, folder, and pencil case. Her sparkling blue eyes looked into Rowen's calm blue eyes for a few moments. Then, she quickly looked down at the floor and bent down to pick up her stuff. "Here, let me help you, Roxanna," Rowen offered as he bent down to help her.

She froze when Rowen called her "Roxanna." She looked at him and asked with a slight Hispanic accent, "How did you know my name?"

"Isn't it a bit obvious?" Rowen asked her.

When she finally realized who he was, a small smile formed on her face. "Rowen?" she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"That's me," he admitted.

To his surprise, Roxanna embraced him. "This is so great, to finally meet you face-to-face after all these years of writing to each other!" Roxanna blurted out.

"Same here, Roxanna," Rowen admitted as she let go of him.

As they stood up, Rowen asked, "What happened earlier? We were supposed to meet outside before school started."

Roxanna looked down shamefully. "Lo siento. I overslept this morning. Mi madre had to drive me to school. I was up late last night unpacking my stuff, and I was so excited about meeting you the next day that I forgot to set my alarm."

"It's all right, Roxanna," Rowen told her. "Stuff like this happens all the time. Take myself, for example. I forget to set my alarm on a regular basis."

Roxanna giggled and added, "Si, I remember you mentioned that in one of your letters." She looked over Rowen's shoulder at the crowd of students at the window. "What are they doing?" she asked.

Rowen turned his head and replied, "Oh, they're just watching some fight outside. Our teacher, Mrs. Elberg, went outside to break it up."

"Aww, man!" one of the students complained. "The fight's over!" Several of the students groaned as they returned to their seats. Rowen returned to his seat as well, and Roxanna took the empty desk right next to him.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Elberg returned to the classroom. "You totally kicked butt out there, Mrs. Elberg!" one student exclaimed as everyone applauded her.

"Well, I guess those self-defense classes did come in handy," Mrs. Elberg admitted. She added jokingly, "If anyone gets out of line in this class, you better watch out!" A majority of the students groaned as she took her seat. "Now, where was I? Oh yes." Mrs. Elberg looked up and spotted Roxanna. "Excuse me, but are you Miss Rodriguez?" she asked.

"Yes," Roxanna replied, nodding her head.

"Why don't you come up here?" Roxanna got up from her desk and approached Mrs. Elberg's desk. "Class, this is our new student, Ms. Roxanna Rodriguez, from Los Angeles, California. Please give her a warm welcome to our school."

Scattered applause was heard for less than a minute. "Here you are, Ms. Rodriguez," Mrs. Elberg said as she handed Roxanna a textbook. "Take good care of it. Just so you know, you missed our first test. I won't let that one count toward your grade. However, you will need to get notes from one of your classmates. Will that be a problem at all?"

"No, Mrs. Elberg," Roxanna replied, holding the textbook against her chest.

"That's all," Mrs. Elberg told her. "You can return to your seat."

"Gracias. I mean, thank you." Roxanna turned around and went back to her desk.

Mrs. Elberg got up and stepped up to the chalkboard. "I would like everyone to turn to page seventy-three in your textbooks," she started as she wrote on the chalkboard...

Rowen and Roxanna were heading down the hall to Rowen's locker during the five-minute break before second period. "Ahh, here we go," Rowen muttered as he approached his locker and unlocked it.

While he was putting his Calculus book away, Roxanna was looking at him curiously. "Why are you dressed like that?" she asked abruptly.

"What do you mean?" Rowen asked, not bothering to face her.

"I mean, why are you dressed this way? I thought you dress casual, just a T- shirt and jeans. Is it because of me?"

The last question caught Rowen by surprise. "Umm... well, you see, I... yeah," he admitted reluctantly. Rowen pulled a textbook out of his locker, closed it, and looked at Roxanna.

"You did that for me? How sweet of you," Roxanna admitted, smiling a bit as they walked down the hall. "I must admit, you look muy guapo today."

Rowen blushed a bit from her compliment. "So, uh. where's your next class, Roxanna?" he asked.

"First of all, Rowen," Roxanna replied, "since we're friends, you can call me by my nickname, Roxie."

"Okay...Roxie."

"My next class is 'Criminal Justice' with Mr. Lobello," Roxie continued.

" 'Criminal Justice', with Mr. Lobello?" Rowen repeated.

"Si. Do you know him?" Roxie asked.

"Yeah, I know him," Rowen admitted. "Matter of fact," he added a bit smugly, "I have that same class next period."

"Really? Bueno!" Roxie exclaimed as they continued down the hall...

It was almost time for fifth period to begin. Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye were sitting at a table in Study Hall, waiting for Rowen to show up. "Come on, Sandra!" Sage pleaded with the redhead girl, who was sitting at a table across from the guys, along with Rita, Clara, and Kim. "There's an extra seat right here." He indicted an empty seat right next to him.

Sandra looked up from her book for a moment and retorted, "Sorry, Sage, but I trust you 'bout as far as she can kick you." She jerked her thumb at Kim, who snickered a bit at Sandra's cruel remark.

"Leave it alone, Sage. For the last time, she's not interested in you," Ryo reminded him.

"That's not entirely true," Sandra reluctantly admitted.

Sage immediately perked up when he heard this. "Ha! I knew it," he admitted proudly.

"I am interested in you... as a friend!" Sandra added.

"Aww," Sage groaned. Ryo, Kento, and Cye snickered over Sage's situation.

"Hey, there's Rowen!" Ryo pointed out as they watched Rowen enter the room with a big grin on his face.

"He's sure happy about something," Ryo told Cye, Kento, and Sage.

"Perhaps he finally met his pen pal, Roxanna," Cye suggested.

"If that's true, he obviously wasn't disappointed with what he saw!" Kento added smugly.

Rowen arrived at their table and sat down next to Kento. "How are you all doing today?" Rowen asked cheerfully, which caught his friends a bit by surprise.

"We're doing all right, Rowen," Sage replied as Rowen opened up a textbook and started to read.

"You seem to be in higher spirits now," Cye mentioned. "Does this mean you ran into Roxanna earlier today?"

"As a matter of fact, I did meet Roxanna," Rowen admitted openly.

"So, which class of yours is she in?" Cye asked.

"All of them."

"Get outta here!" Sage exclaimed.

"I'm serious!" Rowen told him. "I saw her schedule, and it's like someone handed her an exact copy of my own schedule!"

Kento decided to get a little personal. "So, spill it, Rowen! Is Roxanna hot or what?"

"Excuse me, what?" Rowen asked, a bit surprised.

"Is Roxanna hot?" Kento repeated. "You know! Is she a babe, a knockout, a hottie?" Rowen flushed a bit with Kento continually egging him. He was at a loss for words. "Come on, Rowen. Details! I wanna know... hey!" Kento exclaimed when a crumpled ball of paper hit him on the head. "What did you do that for?" he asked Kim.

"Why don't you stop bugging him, dude?" Kim told him. "Leave him alone. Rowen don't need to tell you nothin'. Anyway, you'll see for yourself if she's a babe or not. Okay?"

Kento kept his mouth shut after that. Just then, Ryo looked up and spotted Roxanna entering the room. "Hey, Rowen, is that her?" he asked.

Rowen turned his head to see for himself. "Yeah, that's her," he admitted.

"Whoa," Kento exclaimed in a low whisper. "That's all I can say, man. Whoa."

Rowen looked suspiciously at Sage, who was obviously checking out Roxanna. "Don't even think about it," Rowen whispered harshly.

"What?" Sage asked innocently.

"I know what you're thinking," Rowen warned him accusingly. "It's like clockwork with you, Sage. You just have to flirt with every pretty girl that comes along..."

"So... you think she's pretty?" Kento interrupted.

"Well, I..." Rowen stuttered as he turned red a bit.

"Hola!" Roxie greeted him.

"Hi, Roxie," Rowen replied.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, pointing at the empty seat between him and Sage.

"Sure," Rowen replied a bit hesitantly. Roxie sat down at the table and placed her notebooks and pencil case down. "Roxie, these are my friends," Rowen started. "This is Ryo Sanada, Cye Mouri, Kento Rei Fuan, and Sage Date."

"Pleasure to meet you," Roxie replied.

"And over here," Rowen continued as he turned around, "this is Rita Niitsu, Clara Garson, Sandra O'Brien, and Kim Ashe."

"Wow, Rowen," Roxie admitted. "You have a lot of friends."

Just then, Mr. Stein entered the room and sat at the desk in the center of the room. "Remember, people," he stated dully. "This is Study Hall, so keep the talking down to a whisper." The talking quieted down and Mr. Stein removed some papers from his briefcase.

"Rowen, could I borrow your notes for Calculus and Criminal Justice, por favor?" Roxie asked in a whisper.

"Sure," Rowen whispered as he handed a notebook to Roxie. She opened one of her notebooks and started to copy Rowen's notes.

"What about everything else?" Rowen asked. "We do have all the same classes together."

"We have lunch next, right?" Roxie asked as she was jotting down notes.

"Yeah, we do," Rowen replied.

"I can get the other notes then."

"Well, I had plans to go to the library next period," Rowen explained.

"That's fine by me. I haven't been to the library yet," Roxie whispered.

"All right, then," Rowen whispered back. He looked up and noticed that Sage was checking her out again. When Sage looked up for a moment, Rowen gave him a warning in the form of a dirty look.

Sensing the tension in the air, Cye decided to strike up some conversation. "So, Roxie, right?" he started.

"Yes?" Roxie replied.

"Rowen told us that you're from Los Angeles?" Cye asked.

"Well, not entirely," Roxie admitted. "I'm originally from San Gabriel. It's a small suburb in Los Angeles."

As she continued writing, Sage confessed openly, "You know, I used to live in California."

"Really? Where did you live?" Roxie asked, not even bothering to look up.

"Villa Park," Sage replied.

"Villa Park," Roxie muttered out loud. "That would be located outside of Anaheim. How long have you lived here in Toyama?"

"It's been around seven years, more or less," he admitted.

Suddenly, a series of loud tones sounded off. "Remain calm, everyone," Mr. Stein announced as he stood up. "This is just a drill."

"What the hell's going on?" Kim asked.

"Just a fire drill," Kento replied as they all got up from their seats. "What's the big deal?"

"I ain't used to no tones. I'm used to them big, old, clanging bells."

Mr. Stein approached the classroom door and opened it. "You know the routine," he told the students. "Everyone, line up single file." He waited patiently as everyone got up from the tables and formed a line by the open door.

Just to make sure Sage didn't get the chance to flirt with Roxie on the way out, Rowen intentionally cut between the two of them before they left the room...

The school day had finally come to an end. Ryo, Kento, Cye, Sage, Kim, Clara, Rita, and Sandra were waiting under the oak tree for Rowen and Roxie.

"Here he comes," Cye announced to the others when he saw Rowen heading their way.

"Roxie will be out in a few minutes," Rowen told his friends. "She needed to get something from her locker."

"That's good, because we need to talk to you about something important," Ryo admitted.

"Maybe you should sit down," Sage suggested, indicating a nearby picnic table.

Rowen sighed before he reluctantly headed to the table, with the guys following behind. As he sat down on top of the table, Rowen asked a bit hesitantly, "What is it now?"

"It's about your friend, Roxie," Ryo started. "We've been talking, and we think that she could possibly be the kokoro of air."

"Get out of here!" Rowen exclaimed.

"You got to admit, it all adds up when you look at what has happened so far," Cye pointed out.

"I don't know about Roxie being the kokoro of air," Rowen muttered out loud. "I've been around her most of the day, and this blasted ring hasn't reacted at all."

"That doesn't matter, Rowen," Sage explained. "Remember, the rings only react when they're in some sort of danger. That's how it worked so far."

Rowen was quietly thinking to himself for a moment. "I'll talk to her about this matter privately," he finally replied. "It'd be easier on Roxie if it was just me explaining the situation."

"Well, here she comes now," Cye remarked.

Rowen got up from the table as Roxie approached them. She had a backpack strapped over her shoulders and was carrying a book in her arms. "Okay, I'm ready to leave now," she announced.

"Great, let's get outta here," Kento retorted.

As the group of ten left the school, Roxie whispered to Rowen, "Is there something wrong with your friend, Kento?"

"No, he just has a thing about school," Rowen whispered back.

"And what's that?" she asked.

"He hates it," Rowen whispered. Roxie giggled a bit. Rowen smiled a little, thinking about how Roxie looked when she giggled. There was some silence between them as they lagged behind everyone else.

"So, what did you think about the library?" Rowen asked, trying to strike up conversation.

"Muy grande," Roxie replied.

Rowen eyed the book she was carrying in her arms. "What's that book you checked out?" he asked. "I don't believe I read that one before."

Roxie looked down at her library book. "It's an assortment of haiku, poems, and short stories," she replied. "I found it very interesting. I was especially intrigued by one poem in particular."

"Do you mind telling me about this poem?" Rowen asked.

"Sure, no problem," Roxie replied. "It goes something like this: 'Torch of spirit sought through five; Drinking strength from immortal fire; The darkest prison sheds the light; Churning beneath a swirl of salt; Burning within a throne of rock; Floating amongst the eyes of the ages...' "

" 'Unmoored in the stream of the sky,' " Rowen finished.

"You know this poem?" Roxie asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Umm... yes, I do," Rowen admitted.

"Then, would you happen to know the legend of the Ronin Warriors?" Roxie asked.

"The Ronin Warriors? Well, I umm..." he stuttered.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're at our street now," Sage announced. Rowen and Roxie looked up and noticed that Sage was right..

"We'll see you guys later," Ryo said as he, Cye, Kento, Clara, Rita, and Kim continued down the road.

"Bye, Ryo. Bye, guys," Rowen shouted as he, Sage, Sandra, and Roxie started down their street. Sage and Sandra walked ahead, while Rowen and Roxie lagged behind. "So, where were we, Roxie?" Rowen asked.

"We were about to discuss the legend of the Ronin Warriors," Roxie reminded him.

"Oh, right," he muttered.

"So, do you know anything about them?" Roxie asked.

"Well, from what I recall, over a thousand years ago, this world was apparently attacked by an evil demon from the Nether World called Talpa. He led an empire they called the Evil Dynasty, full of these Dynasty soldiers and Nether Spirits. It appeared that Talpa would have succeeded in taking over, until there was a face-off between him and an elderly monk."

"An elderly monk?" Roxie interrupted.

"Seems bizarre, doesn't it?" Rowen replied. "Anyway, the monk defeated Talpa, but Talpa warned him that one day, by the power of his armor, he would return to seek his revenge."

"What did this monk do?" Roxie asked, obviously intrigued by the story. "And when do the Ronin Warriors come in?"

"I'm about to get to that part," Rowen assured her. "The monk, who was also called the Ancient, knew that as long as the armor existed, Talpa would be able to carry out his threat, but unfortunately, Talpa's armor couldn't be destroyed. So, the Ancient melted down Talpa's armor and created the nine Ronin armors. Four of these armors were imbued with the powers of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The remaining armors were imbued with the powers of the five elements: fire, earth, air, water, and spirit. The four seasonal armors disappeared over time, but according to legend, if Talpa and his Evil Dynasty ever returned to the mortal world, the Ronin Warriors would be there to stop him."

Roxie was silent for a few moments. "That was an interesting legend, Rowen," she admitted. "Especially the way you tell it."

"What do you mean?" Rowen asked, blushing slightly.

"Well, the way you spoke, it was as though you believed in the legend yourself," Roxie explained. "It sounded muy bonito, coming from you."

Rowen blushed even more from Roxie's compliment. "Hate to interrupt the chat, Romeo," Sage retorted, "but you passed your house."

Rowen stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around and saw that Sage was right. He was so into his conversation with Roxie that he walked right past his house. Rowen would have kept going if Sage didn't stop him. "Oops, my mistake," he admitted, chuckling nervously.

"Sage! You didn't have to be so rude 'bout it," Sandra retorted. She looked at Rowen and Roxie and smiled. "Well, we have to be going," Sandra announced cheerfully. "Nice meeting you, Roxie."

"Same here, Sandra," Roxie replied. She and Rowen watched for a few moments as Sandra half-dragged Sage down the street. "Are those two a couple?" Roxie asked.

Rowen laughed out loud. "No way! In Sage's dreams, perhaps," he admitted. There was a moment of silence between them. "So, you mentioned you live on this street? Whereabouts?" Rowen asked. Roxie started to giggle. "What?" he asked.

"You weren't the only one to walk past your house," she got out between her giggles.

"So, where is your house?" Rowen asked again.

Roxie pointed at a two-floor, white cottage-style house. "I can't believe it," Rowen muttered.

"What is it?" Roxie asked.

Rowen looked into her blue eyes and replied, "We're neighbors."

"Bueno," Roxie replied with a smile.

Rowen decided to take a chance. "Can I walk you to the door?" he asked quickly.

Roxie was slightly taken aback by Rowen's offer. "Sure, Rowen," she finally answered. The two headed back to Roxie's home and walked down the small brick path to the door.

"There's something I want to know, Roxie," Rowen started. "What did you think about me? You know, when you saw me for the first time?"

"Well, personally, I wasn't disappointed with what I saw," Roxie admitted. Rowen looked away so Roxie couldn't see his face turning red. "I'll see you later, okay?" Roxie asked as she started to open the door.

"Wait a minute!" Rowen exclaimed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I need to discuss something important with you, but not out here," Rowen explained.

"Then where?" Roxie asked.

"Meet me outside around four. I'll take you to this place I know of where we won't be interrupted."

"I don't know..." Roxie murmured a bit hesitantly.

Rowen could tell she was nervous, so he took her hand to help calm her. "Roxie, I would never do anything to hurt you in any way. You do believe me, right?"

She looked up into Rowen's blue eyes and smiled a bit. "Yes, I do," she whispered.

"There's one other thing I need to tell you, no, warn you about," Rowen continued. "I have an impostor out there. He looks nearly identical to me; only his eyes are different from mine. He'll possibly try to cover them up with sunglasses, so keep an eye out for him." Roxie slowly nodded her head. "Well, goodbye for now, Roxie," Rowen continued.

"Adios, Rowen," Roxie replied. She gave him a quick hug before she entered her home and closed the door. Rowen stood there astonished for a few moments before he turned around and headed back to his own house next door...

Meanwhile, inside a dark room, Strata was sitting on a large velvet pillow in his sub-armor, in deep meditation. A circle of lit candles, sitting on top of tall wooden candleholders, surrounded him.

Strata chuckled evilly to himself. "So, you think you can protect the kokoro from me, Rowen of Strata," he muttered under his breath. "Too bad you don't know that the two of us are psychically linked."

Strata heard the door open from behind him. He opened his eyes and asked in an annoyed tone, "What is it, Devaki?"

"Lady Dulcea wishes to speak with you right now," Devaki told him. Strata stood up and followed Devaki down the hall to the throne room, where Dulcea was sitting on her throne, waiting for them.

"Thank you, Devaki. You may leave now," Dulcea ordered, gesturing with her hand slightly toward the hallway. Devaki bowed to her and hobbled back to the hallway.

"Lady Dulcea, you wished to speak with me?" Strata asked as he bowed respectfully to her.

"Your time has come to destroy the kokoro of air, Strata," Dulcea informed him.

"I've been anticipating this moment, Lady Dulcea," he admitted.

"So, you have a plan?" she asked.

"Yes, and it's quite a devious one, if I do say so myself," Strata boasted.

Dulcea raised an eyebrow upon hearing this boast. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Strata," she muttered icily. "Remember, the others were so sure of success that it led to their downfall. Don't forget that."

Strata slowly nodded his head in understanding. "Of course, Lady Dulcea," he muttered. "I did formulate a backup plan," Strata continued. "That is, if the slight chance of the first one failing, which it won't, does occur. I will not fail you!"

Dulcea stared at him with her cold violet eyes. "You better not fail me, Strata," she uttered icily. "I had enough failures to deal with already, and I don't need another one. Now, go!" Strata quickly bowed to her and teleported out of the throne room...

Meanwhile, back at Roxie's house, the young Hispanic girl was heading out. "I'll be back soon, Mama," she shouted as she closed the door. Roxie looked up and saw Rowen waiting for her at the edge of the street. "Hey, Rowen!" she shouted as she headed toward the road.

Suddenly, Rowen turned his head and Roxie noticed that he was wearing dark sunglasses. She stopped a few feet away. "Who are you?" Roxie asked suspiciously.

The young man chuckled as he removed his sunglasses. Roxie took in a huge sigh of relief when she noticed that his eyes were normal. "Why did you scare me like that, Rowen?" she asked as she approached him.

"I was just giving you a little test, Roxie," Rowen explained. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay," Roxie admitted. "So, where are we going?"

"There's this place I know of, located in the woods down the street," Rowen explained as the two walked down the street toward Sage and Sandra's homes. "Up there, we won't be disturbed by anyone."

"Oh, really?" Roxie asked, suspecting that Rowen had an alternate purpose for wanting to speak to her alone...

Unbeknownst to Roxie, the real Rowen had just arrived at her house. He waited around for a couple of minutes.

"She's probably not ready yet," Rowen concluded. He decided to take a quick walk to pass the time, and he headed in the opposite direction toward the main road leading to Han'a High. A gentle breeze was blowing, causing the lock of hair on Rowen's forehead to twitch around. He took in a deep breath.

_This is possibly the best thing that's ever happened to me,_" Rowen thought to himself as he walked down the street. _Finally, someone I can talk to at an intellectual level. Roxie has changed so much since the second grade. She used to be so shy and timid. Now, she's more open-minded, outgoing, pretty..._

Rowen suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "What was I thinking?" he muttered to himself. Rowen was a bit confused, since he never felt attracted to a girl before. He jerked his head back and muttered, "I best be heading back. Roxie might be out waiting for me by now."

Rowen turned around and started to head back to Roxie's house. The gentle breeze had just kicked up a notch, but it didn't seem to bother him much. He pulled his jacket collar up as he continued heading back.

"What the...?" Rowen exclaimed. The once gentle breeze was now a very powerful, roaring gust, bending the trees alongside the road and blowing dust and sand up in the air. He covered his eyes so the sand wouldn't get in them.

Suddenly, the wind abruptly stopped. Rowen brought down his hands, opened his eyes, and gasped. The ring of Life, restrained only by Rowen's chain necklace, was hovering right in front of his face. A small orb of dark blue light surrounded the ring. Rowen quickly snatched the ring from the air in his fist.

"Hmm... could it be possible that this ring was responsible for the abrupt changes in the barometric pressure?" he asked himself thoughtfully as he opened his hand and looked cautiously at the glowing ring of Life. Suddenly, a beam of dark blue light came out from the ring. The beam projected a flat dark blue oval in front of Rowen. Through the oval, he saw several images, all in various shades of dark blue.

The first image he saw was of Roxie and himself, or someone that looked completely identical to him, heading towards a path on the side of the street leading into the woods. The next image was of Roxie looking over the edge of a small cliff. The last image was of his look-alike pushing Roxie off of the cliff.

The flat oval disappeared, and the ring of Life stopped glowing. Rowen stood there for a moment, thinking quietly to himself. "Hey, I recognize that cliff!" he exclaimed. "It's in the woods, right past Sage's house. I remember the two of us going up there to meditate... I can reminisce later. Now's definitely not the time!"

Rowen took a small crystal orb out of his pocket, closed his eyes, and concentrated. In the blink of an eye, his clothes were instantly replaced with his sub-armor. As soon as the transformation was complete, Rowen ran as fast as he could down the street.

_I just hope I can get to her in time,_ he thought to himself as he sped past his house...

"How much further is it, Rowen?" Roxie asked. The two have been climbing up a steep trail in the woods for quite a while.

"Almost there," Rowen assured her. A few moments later, they reached the end of the trail. The trail emptied into a small, narrow cliff overlooking the forests and distant mountains.

Roxie gasped in astonishment at the amazing view. "How marvelous!" she exclaimed.

"You like it?" Rowen asked.

"Of course, I do. It's absolutely breathtaking!" Roxie exclaimed. "I'm going to take a closer look."

As she headed toward the edge of the cliff, Rowen announced, "Just watch your step, Roxie." A small smirk appeared on his face. "You might end up falling off," he muttered to himself.

Rowen chuckled evilly to himself as he headed toward the cliff's edge. He was slowly sneaking up on Roxie. Rowen had his arms stretched out and was about to push Roxie when a familiar voice shouted, "Roxie! Get away from that cliff!"

Roxie looked up and was surprised to see a second Rowen, only he was wearing some sort of metal sub-armor colored blue and white. "Rowen?" she exclaimed questioningly as she looked over at the Rowen standing next to her. He had a stern, aggravated look on his face. To Roxie's surprise, Rowen turned toward her and pushed her hard, sending Roxie off the cliff.

"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed as she fell further down toward the dense forest below. Roxie kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see herself make contact with the ground.

Suddenly, Roxie gasped when she felt something wrap itself around her waist. She opened her eyes and noticed that it was an arm coated in blue and white armor. "Rowen?" she asked, looking up in the face of her friend.

"Don't worry, Roxie. I got you," Rowen told her. He dug his fingers deep into the nearby cliff wall. Rowen's fingers left long thin trails in the rock wall until they finally came to a stop. He pulled himself up on a thin ledge, never letting go of Roxie.

"Do you mind telling me what's happening?" Roxie asked fearfully.

"Not to be rude, but now's not exactly the best time," Rowen explained as he crouched down. "Hold onto me," he instructed Roxie.

"Why? What are you going to do?" Roxie asked nervously.

"Just trust me on this, Roxie," Rowen told her. Roxie hesitantly wrapped her arms around Rowen's neck. "Hang on," he reminded her. With all his strength, Rowen propelled himself off of the ledge. Roxie held on tighter as they accelerated higher back toward the cliff.

When Rowen and Roxie landed back on the cliff, they both saw Rowen's impostor standing there, with his back towards them. "So... you survived, eh?" the impostor muttered out loud.

"You can't destroy a Ronin Warrior that easily," Rowen retorted. "Mind telling me how you managed to pull this off?"

"It's quite simple, really," the impostor replied as he turned around. Rowen and Roxie gasped when they noticed his eyes. One was a normal looking blue eye, while the other eye was a deeper blue, with no pupil.

"Contacts," Rowen muttered out loud.

"That's correct, Rowen of Strata," the impostor retorted as he levitated off of the ground. When he was about six feet in the air, he spun around rapidly, forming what appeared to be a small blue tornado. When he finally stopped spinning, Strata was in his full armor.

"Stay behind me," Rowen told Roxie as Strata landed on the ground. "Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!"

Roxie gasped as she witnessed her friend transforming into blue and white samurai-style armor. When the transformation was complete, Rowen withdrew his bow and stood ready for battle.

"Do you really believe that you can protect the girl from me, Rowen of Strata?" Strata asked sarcastically as he withdrew his own bow. Rowen could tell what his evil twin was about to do as Strata removed an arrow from his quiver and loaded it in his bow.

"ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" Strata shouted. Rowen stood his ground as the blazing arrow headed straight towards him and Roxie.

_Life!_ he thought as his kanji glowed on his forehead. To Roxie's surprise, a blue light emerged from Rowen's armor, creating a large hollow sphere around the two of them. Acting as a shield, the blue sphere deflected Strata's attack.

"Roxie, listen to me," Rowen whispered loud enough for Roxie to hear. "This shield won't last much longer. I'm gonna distract Strata, and I want you to make a run for it."

"But, Rowen, I don't want to leave you here alone..." Roxie started to argue.

"Roxie, don't worry," Rowen told her. "I'm more concerned with your safety than my own." He looked up and noticed that the shield was starting to fade away.

"Get ready," Rowen warned Roxie as he held up his bow.

As soon as the protective shield disappeared, Rowen charged toward Strata and swung his bow down at him. Strata managed to block the blow with his bow. While the two warriors were locked in combat, Strata noticed in the corner of his eye Roxie running past them towards the trail in the woods. "You're only delaying the inevitable, Rowen of Strata," he muttered sinisterly.

Strata suddenly knocked Rowen off of him with a powerful kick. After Strata stood up, he swung his bow down at the fallen Ronin Warrior. Rowen quickly rolled out of the way and Strata's bow made contact with the hard packed earth, leaving a narrow hole. Strata swung his bow down at Rowen again, but he used his bow to block his clone's second swing...

Meanwhile, Roxie was running as fast as she could down the path. "Ahh!" she screamed as she tripped over a root in the trail and fell to the ground. As she sat up, Roxie saw something on the side of the trail glowing with a bright blue light. From taking a closer look, Roxie realized that the glowing object was a ring. She reached out her hand to pick it up, but she stopped short.

"What am I doing?" Roxie asked herself as she stood up. "I need to get help for Rowen." She continued running as fast as she dared down the steep trail.

_I doubt that anyone would believe me, but I can't let Rowen fight that impostor by himself,_ Roxie thought.

Out of the corner of her eye, Roxie saw a small sphere of glowing blue light fly right past her. "What was that?" she gasped as she stopped running. The glowing blue orb was hovering in front of her face. Roxie noticed that the same ring she found earlier was floating within the glowing orb of blue light. She willingly opened her hand, and the ring dropped right in her open hand. Suddenly, a narrow beam of blue light emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the kanji of Life appeared on Roxie's forehead.

As she stood there, Shuno appeared at her side. _"Roxanna Rodriguez,"_ he said, _"I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You, my dear, are the kokoro of air reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world from evil. Rowen is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Strata. You must open up your eyes and your mind to what's really happening around you."_

Roxie quickly opened her eyes and looked around, but the mysterious Shuno was nowhere in sight. "Huh? Where did he go?" she asked herself. "What was that nonsense he was going on about?" Roxie thought over what Shuno told her for a moment. "Well, I guess some of it makes sense. Shuno did know about that strange armor that Rowen was wearing and..." She was interrupted by a loud crash from the cliff.

"Oh, no! Rowen!" Roxie cried as she hesitantly made her way back to the cliff...

Meanwhile, unknown to Roxie, Rowen was losing the battle with Strata. His evil twin knocked him to the ground with a low roundhouse kick. By grabbing the handles on Rowen's armored boots, Strata flung the Ronin Warrior right into a massive tree. The force of the impact knocked Rowen unconscious and snapped the tree in half.

"That must have hurt," Strata retorted with a hint of venom as he approached the unconscious Rowen, slung him over his shoulder, and headed for the edge of the cliff. "It's time to end this, Rowen of Strata," he muttered sinisterly.

"Let him go," Strata heard Roxie order him. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at the girl standing at the border between the forest and the cliff.

"If you insist," he retorted as he quickly dumped Rowen's unconscious body over the edge of the cliff. Strata looked back at Roxie, but to his surprise, she wasn't scared or panicked, which was what he was expecting. Roxie closed her eyes and concentrated. The ring of Life on her right ring finger reacted by radiating a blue glow. Strata could feel powerful gusts of wind coming from the edge of the cliff. He turned around and gasped, "It's... not possible!"

To Strata's utter shock, he saw Rowen being lifted back up to the cliff by the powerful winds. The Ronin Warrior was carried over Strata's head by the winds and was gently laid down by Roxie's feet. The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her injured blue-haired friend. She kneeled down and delicately touched Rowen's cheek. "Come on, Rowen. Please wake up," she whispered, concerned.

Strata decided to take advantage of this opportunity. He loaded one of his golden arrows in his bow, took careful aim at Roxie's heart, and released the arrow.

To Strata's complete surprise, Roxie instinctively reached up with her hand and grabbed the arrow, with the sharp arrowhead just two inches away from her heart.

"Enough with these games, kokoro," Strata muttered icily as he held up his bow. "You die now!" he yelled angrily as he charged toward her.

Roxie looked up at him with anger burning in her bright blue eyes. "WHIRLWIND!" she shouted. A severe blast of incredibly powerful winds knocked Strata down to the bare ground. He could feel the powerful winds pushing him toward the edge of the cliff.

Before he went over the cliff, Strata reached out and grabbed onto the edge with his hand. As the evil Ronin Warrior swayed on the cliff's edge, he looked up at Roxie, who was slowly approaching him. Her dark brown hair was being tossed about wildly by the gusts of wind. Roxie stood and watched as Strata lost his grip and plummeted down to the forest below.

She was about to look over the edge of the cliff to make sure that Strata was gone when she heard Rowen take in a loud gasp of air. Roxie immediately hurried back to his side. Rowen slowly opened his eyes and wearily looked up at his friend. "Roxie?" he whispered a bit weakly.

"Rowen? How are you feeling?" Roxie asked.

"Like I told that creep earlier, you can't destroy a Ronin Warrior that easily," Rowen reminded her as he struggled to stand up.

"Here, let me help you," Roxie offered as she helped Rowen stand up.

"Thanks, Roxie," he replied with a small, weak smile on his face.

"Hey, Rowen!" they heard a familiar voice shout. Rowen and Roxie turned around and saw Sage running towards them, wearing his green and white sub-armor. Following right behind him were Ryo, Cye, and Kento, all in their sub-armors as well.

"Hey, guys," Rowen greeted. "How did you know we were up here?"

"I saw you running down the street in your sub-armor earlier," Sage explained. "I figured that something was up, so I called the guys and let them know what was going on."

"Hey, you guys!" they heard Sandra shout. The five Ronin Warriors and Roxie looked toward the woods. Standing there was Sandra, taking in several deep breaths of air. Rita, Kim, and Clara were standing behind her, also showing signs of exhaustion.

"Are you all right, Sandra?" Cye asked.

"Give me a minute," Sandra replied between gasps of air.

"You dudes don't realize how fast y'all run with that damn armor on," Kim retorted.

"What happened, Rowen?" Ryo asked.

"Well, to sum it all up: Strata, posing as me, tricked Roxie into coming up here, and pushed her off that cliff over there," Rowen explained. "I caught Roxie, brought her back up to the cliff, and fought Strata while she made a run for it. Strata overpowered me, threw me into what used to be a tree over there, and I passed out."

"So, what happened to Strata?" Sage asked.

"No need to worry about him," Roxie replied. "I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon."

"That's what you think!" a familiar voice shouted from behind them. The Ronin Warriors and the five girls looked up and were surprised to see Strata floating in the air right in front of them.

"Give it up, Strata!" Rowen shouted.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered here!" Sage added.

Strata stared down at them and snickered evilly. "That's where you're wrong, Rowen of Strata and Sage of Halo."

"Just what do you mean?" Ryo demanded.

"I could always... even the odds," Strata replied sinisterly as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, and Hardrock appeared in the air next to Strata, all in their full armor.

"Told you we'd be back," Wildfire muttered sinisterly.

"Stay behind us," Ryo instructed Rita, Sandra, Clara, and Kim.

"You, too, Roxie," Rowen told her. Roxie willingly stepped behind the Ronin Warriors as they formed a line in front of the girls and stood their ground.

"How ironic this is," Strata sneered. "The Ronin Warriors will end up losing their lives protecting the ones we were sent to destroy."

"You guys ready?" Rowen asked his friends.

"Hey, we've been ready," Kento retorted.

"Let's do it," Ryo muttered out loud. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!"

"Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"

"Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

"Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!"

After the transformations were complete, the four remaining Ronin Warriors withdrew their weapons and stood ready for battle with their evil clones.

"Ready?" Strata asked the other Ronin clones.

"You bet we are," Hardrock agreed as he withdrew his naginata. At the same time, Wildfire withdrew his katanas, Halo withdrew his sword, and Torrent withdrew his trident. The five Ronin clones yelled out simultaneously as they all charged toward the Ronin Warriors and the girls.

Unexpectedly, to the Ronin Warriors' surprise, the Ronin clones' bodies became engulfed in some sort of purple electricity. They screamed out in pain as the bolts of purple electricity coursed through their armor straight to their bodies.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light engulfed the evil Ronin Warriors. The real Ronin Warriors and the girls shielded their eyes from the bright light. When they opened their eyes, the Ronin clones were nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell did they go?" Kim asked as she looked around.

"Perhaps that light destroyed them," Cye suggested.

"That could be possible, but if that's true, then who did it?" Rowen asked.

"Maybe it was that guy, Shuno," Rita suggested.

"I don't think he did," Ryo admitted. "If he had the power to destroy those clones of us, when we couldn't even do it ourselves, then Shuno could take on Dulcea by himself and wouldn't have asked for our help. Besides, I have a feeling that those clones are not dead. They're still out there, and so is Dulcea."

"You're right, Ryo," Rowen admitted. "We have to stop them from taking over this world. Together, we can do this." Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento nodded in approval.

"Well, you can definitely count me in," Kim boasted as she joined them.

"Yeah, me, too," Rita announced.

"Me, three," Sandra admitted.

"Don't forget me," Clara added.

Rowen looked at Roxie was now standing all alone, thinking quietly to herself. "Hey, Roxie!" he shouted. Roxie looked up at him questioningly. "You with us?" Rowen asked.

Roxie hesitated for a moment before she replied with a small smile, "You bet I am." She quickly joined the group at the edge of the cliff as the sun was starting to set overhead...

Meanwhile, unknown to the Ronin Warriors and the girls, Dulcea was watching them on the cliff via her mirror in the throne room. "Enjoy your victory while you can, Ronin Warriors," she stated coldly. "You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over."

Just then, Dulcea heard several footsteps approaching from the hall. She waved her hand over the mirror, causing the images to disappear as her Ronin clones entered the throne room, all back in their sub-armor. They were obviously enraged about something, and it showed. The five clones stopped just a few feet away from Dulcea, whose back was facing them.

"We almost had them!" Strata reported angrily.

"Why did you stop us?" Torrent asked.

"May I remind you that you were supposed to destroy the kokoro before they discovered their true powers, and you all failed," Dulcea stated coldly. "The Ronin Warriors are another matter. You will destroy them when I decide."

"Oh, yeah?" Hardrock shouted angrily as he stepped in front of Torrent and Strata. "And when will that be?"

As Kento's evil clone spoke, bolts of purple electricity could be seen running down Dulcea's left arm down to her hand, where they gathered into a small ball of electricity. She quickly turned around and zapped Hardrock with the ball of purple electricity. The force of the attack was so powerful that it knocked Hardrock to the floor, along with Strata and Torrent.

"Remember your place," Dulcea reminded them bitterly. "I'll tell you as much as I decide to tell you. Now, leave!"

Hardrock, Strata, and Torrent quickly got up from the floor and headed back toward the hallway, along with Halo and Wildfire.

"As you wish..." Wildfire addressed to Dulcea. "...For now," he muttered to himself as he left the throne room.

Dulcea sat back down in her throne as Devaki, who was watching everything from the back of the room, quickly hobbled to her side. "Pardon me for asking, Lady Dulcea, but why didn't you let our evil 'Ronin Warriors' destroy the real Ronin Warriors when they had the chance?"

"I have bigger plans for them," Dulcea replied. "I can't afford to lose any of them, now that all five kokoro have been revived." She stared at Devaki with her menacing violet eyes before continuing. "Don't forget, Devaki. If we wish to succeed in conquering this planet, we need to gather a massive amount of dark, negative energy, and Black Chi energy is just the resource we need. Devaki, I want you to devise a plan right away for gathering the energy we need."

"Right away, Lady Dulcea," Devaki agreed as he quickly bowed to her and hobbled out of the throne room.

After he left, Dulcea's deep violet eyes focused on an unusually large tapestry hanging on the wall to her left. She got up from her throne, approached the large tapestry, and pulled an antique gold-colored velvet rope that was dangling from the right side of the tapestry.

Like a stage curtain, the massive tapestry separated in the middle and the two halves were pulled away from each other. Concealed behind the tapestry was a large glass picture window that touched the floor and was twice as tall as she was. Dulcea stepped closer to the window and looked through it. Spread out in front of her was nothing but the darkness of outer space, heavily peppered with shining white stars.

Dulcea's violet eyes then focused on the planet Earth, which was floating right below her feet. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the main island of Japan.

"This world will eventually fall under my control, but first, those Ronin Warriors will pay for what they've done," Dulcea muttered coldly. She chuckled sinisterly to herself as she closed the tapestry curtain and headed back to her throne...TO BE CONTINUED


	7. Broken Fortunes

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Part 7-Broken Fortunes

It was a late Sunday afternoon in the city of Toyama. Clara was sitting behind a counter, with a register resting on top, in her mother's store: Enchanted Woods. She was wearing a powder blue dress with transparent sleeves that ended at her elbows. Clara was staring down at the counter, skimming through a magazine, when she heard the bell for the front door ring, indicating that a customer had entered the store. She looked up and noticed that the customer was Kim.

"Oh, hello, Kim," Clara greeted as she got up from behind the counter and approached her friend.

"Hey, whassup, Clara," Kim greeted back. She slowly looked around the entire store. There was a display of dreamcatchers and small mirrors with hand-painted wooden frames hanging on the wall, about six racks of women's clothes, and many glass display cases crowded with woodcarvings, candles, boxes of incense, and incense holders.

"What do you think of the store?" Clara asked as Kim glanced over the woodcarvings on one shelf.

"It's all right," Kim admitted. Her hazel eyes focused on a medium-sized realistic carving of a male lion. "Dude, this is off da hook!" Kim exclaimed as she picked up the lion to have a better look at it.

"I'm guessing that means you like it?" Clara asked curiously.

"Hell, yeah," Kim admitted. She flipped it over to look for a price. "Eighteen bucks for this? That's cheap," she muttered out loud.

"What do you mean?" Clara asked.

"Well, I figured something like this would cost a lot more," Kim explained. "Your ma made this?"

"Actually, I believe I carved that particular piece," Clara admitted.

"Damn!" Kim muttered out loud. "I'd never have the patience to do this shit. You got yourself a sale." Clara smiled a bit as they both walked back to the counter.

As Clara rang up Kim's purchase, she asked, "Weren't you with Rita, Sandra, and Roxie?"

"Yeah, I was," Kim admitted as she dug in her pockets for her money.

"What happened to them?" Clara asked.

"They still in Mother Earth, that pottery shop next door," Kim revealed as she pulled out a crumpled twenty-dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to Clara. "I can't stand those kinda stores, Clara. Make me feel like if I even sneeze, I'll end up breaking something." Clara laughed a bit as she opened the register, put Kim's money in it, counted out her change, and handed it to her.

As Kim put her change in her pocket, Clara asked, "Umm... Kim, did you happen to see Cye over in Mother Earth?"

"Yeah, I think I saw him in back of the store. Why?" Kim asked.

"Uh, n-no reason," Clara stuttered quickly.

"Oh, I get it!" Kim exclaimed slowly with a big smirk on her face. "Cye's definitely your cup of tea, huh, Clara?"

Clara quickly turned away so Kim couldn't see her face turning red. Just then, the bell rang again. Clara and Kim looked up to see Rita, Sandra, and Roxie entering the store. Rita and Sandra were each carrying a bag from the pottery shop.

"Hello, girls," Clara greeted as Rita, Sandra, and Roxie joined her and Kim.

"Buenos dias, Clara," Roxie greeted.

"Mind if I put this bag up here?" Rita asked.

"Sure, Rita," Clara replied.

"What did you get?" Kim asked as Rita carefully placed her bag on top of the counter.

"Oh, I got this beautiful new tea set for my grandfather," Rita explained. "I just know he's going to love it." Just then, she noticed a small revolving display rack on the counter. Several braided hemp bracelets were hanging from all four sides of the display. Woven within each bracelet were six glass beads; each bracelet containing different colored beads.

"What are these, Clara?" Rita asked.

Clara looked up at the display of bracelets that Rita was pointing at. "Oh, those are fortune bracelets," she explained.

"Fortune bracelets?" Sandra repeated. "What are they for?"

"Oh, it's something new we're selling at the store," Clara explained. "Each color represents a certain fortune. According to legend, if you were to wear one of these bracelets, when it eventually wears out and falls off, your fortune would come true."

"There's a lot of different colors here," Rita remarked as she looked over the display rack. She found a small row of the fortune bracelets with red glass beads.

"What does red stand for?" Rita asked.

Clara glanced at a small stack of business cards in a plastic tray next to the display. "Let's see... red is for health," Clara read from the card on top of the pile.

"You got 'em in green?" Sandra asked as she approached the display.

"Yes, we do," Clara replied as she rotated the display a little to reveal a row of the fortune bracelets with green glass beads. "Green represents hope."

Roxie noticed the row of fortune bracelets next to the green bracelets containing purple glass beads. "What about purple, Clara?" she asked.

"Umm... purple stands for energy," Clara replied.

Sandra looked over at Clara and noticed that she was wearing a fortune bracelet with blue beads on her left wrist. "What 'bout blue?" she asked curiously, pointing at the bracelet on Clara's wrist. The blond French girl was completely silent.

"Gimme that!" Kim retorted as she quickly snatched one of the cards next to the display. She noticed that the card was a small list of what each color represented in the fortune bracelets. She quickly looked over the list until she found the word blue. When Kim read the meaning of blue to herself, she abruptly laughed out loud.

"What's so funny, chica?" Roxie asked as she, Rita, and Sandra looked at her curiously.

"Blue...stands for...love!" Kim barely got out as she attempted to calm herself down. Rita, Sandra, and Roxie looked back at Clara, whose cheeks were bright red.

"I think we all know why Clara's wearing a fortune bracelet that be representing love!" Kim teased. Clara turned even redder in the face with Kim continually teasing her.

Just then, the bell rang a third time. The girls looked up and were surprised to see Cye enter the store. In his hand was a bag from his mother's pottery shop.

"Hey, Cye. What are you doing here?" Sandra asked.

"You left this bag on the floor, Sandra," Cye explained as he handed the bag to her.

"Oy! Thanks a lot, Cye," Sandra replied. "This was a little gift I got for me mom."

"Hello, Cye," Clara greeted with a smile.

"Oh... hi, Clara!" Cye stuttered quickly, his cheeks quickly turning red. "I-I got to be getting back to my mom's store now," he continued as he slowly stepped backwards toward the door. "Bye!" Cye quickly turned around to head out the door, but he accidentally elbowed one of the display cases, knocking down a few woodcarvings in the process.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Cye apologized as he picked up the carvings and set them back up. "Goodbye, girls. Goodbye... Clara." With that, Cye left the store as quickly as he could.

As soon as Cye left the store, the five girls burst into giggles, except for Kim, who was laughing out loud.

"Dude, that was priceless! Yo, Clara, maybe your fortune bracelet is really working!" Kim joked in between her laughter.

"You know, Clara," Rita interrupted, "I think I'll buy one of these fortune bracelets. How much are they?"

"A dollar each," Clara announced.

Rita nodded her head as she handed Clara a dollar bill and removed one of the red fortune bracelets off of the display rack. As she tied the bracelet on her wrist, Sandra announced, "I'll have one of 'em bracelets, too."

"Same here," Roxie added.

As Sandra and Roxie each handed Clara a dollar bill and headed to the display case, Clara asked, "What about you, Kim? Do you want a fortune bracelet, too?"

"Nah, I ain't down with that spiritual stuff," Kim replied.

"Hey, Clara? You got the time?" Sandra asked as she was tying Roxie's bracelet on for her.

Clara looked up at the clock on the wall behind her. "It's almost four-thirty," she replied.

"Oy! I gotta get going!" Sandra exclaimed as she picked up her bags. "I promised me mom and da that I'd be home by five, and I also gotta study for that Biology test tomorrow."

"Don't forget your bracelet," Roxie announced, who was holding Sandra's fortune bracelet for her.

"Oh, right," Sandra muttered out loud as she took the bracelet from Roxie and put it in her pocket. "I'll have to put it on when I get home. Bye, gals!" Sandra shouted as she left the store.

"You know, we should all get going," Rita suggested as she picked up her bag from the counter.

"Yeah, you're right," Kim reluctantly admitted.

"I'll see you all tomorrow when we walk to school with the guys," Clara announced.

"Goodbye!" Rita, Kim, and Roxie shouted simultaneously as they all left the store...

"Come on, Rowen!" Sage complained loudly. He was standing by the open door of Rowen's house, while Sandra and Roxie were waiting for them at the side of the street. "Hurry it up, or we're all gonna be late!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" Rowen shouted from somewhere inside the house. He finally appeared at the open door. After closing the door behind him, Rowen and Sage joined Sandra and Roxie, and they walked down the street together.

"So, Sandra, you ready for our Biology test later today?" Sage asked.

"You bet I'm ready!" Sandra boasted.

"You seem pretty confident in yourself," Sage pointed out.

"Well, I should be, Sage. I've only been studying ever since Mr. Kurgan made the announcement on Friday," Sandra told him.

"Hmm, that reminds me..." Rowen muttered to himself. "Umm, Roxie? Would you like to meet with me after school so we can start studying for our test?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Rowen," Roxie agreed. "Where should we meet?"

"Whatever's okay with you is fine with me," Rowen admitted.

"Could we study at your house today?" Roxie asked. "Mama has the day off from work, and she plans on painting the living room while I'm at school. Unless we want to breathe in the fumes, we should study at your house. That okay with you?"

"Sure, no problem," Rowen agreed.

"What's going on?" Sage asked curiously.

"You two aren't the only ones with a test this week," Rowen revealed. "Roxie and I have a test for Latin class this Friday."

"That's gotta be a tough language to learn," Sandra admitted.

"Latin's not really that hard," Roxie admitted. "It happens to be the foundation of all the languages that exist in the world."

"That's easy for you to say, Roxie," Sage pointed out. "You and Rowen are geniuses! Of course you two would think Latin is easy!" Rowen and Roxie chuckled a bit nervously.

"Hey, guys!" they heard Kento shout. Sage, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie looked up and saw Kento standing at the street corner, waving to them. Standing next to him was Ryo, Rita, Cye, Clara, and Kim.

"Hey, guys," Sage greeted as he, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie joined their friends.

"Hey, Sage," Ryo greeted. As they started to head toward the school, he looked over at Sandra. "You ready for the last day of tryouts, Sandra?" Ryo asked.

"You bet I am!" Sandra proclaimed.

"Oh, is today your last day for soccer tryouts?" Cye asked.

"Sure is, Cye," Sandra replied. "Hey, Ryo? Where do they post up the final cuts for the boys and girls' soccer teams?"

"It'll be up on the gym's bulletin board tomorrow morning," Ryo explained. "It's right next to the gym entrance. You can't miss it."

"So, Ryo, how long have you been playing soccer?" Rita asked curiously.

"Ever since I was five," Ryo admitted. "This is gonna be my third year on the school's soccer team. Coach Zettler was even thinking about making me team captain this year, if I make the final cut, that is."

"That's great news, Ryo! Good luck to both of you with the tryouts," Rita told both Ryo and Sandra.

"Thanks, Rita," Sandra admitted.

"Hey, what's with those bracelets?" Kento interrupted.

"What are you talking about, Kento?" Rowen asked curiously.

"I'm talking about those bracelets that the girls are wearing," Kento replied.

"Hey! I ain't wearing one of them fortune bracelets!" Kim retorted.

"Fortune bracelets?" Cye repeated.

"It's a new item my mother's selling at the store," Clara explained. "We only had the bracelets for a few days, but they've been selling out so quickly. They have become very popular, particularly with the girls."

"Well, here we are," Rowen interrupted as they arrived at Han'a High School. When the group of ten entered the school, they split up and headed to their separate homerooms.

"Clara, once again, I'm really sorry 'bout what happened yesterday," Cye apologized as he, Clara, and Rowen headed to their homeroom.

"It's all right, Cye," Clara admitted. "Just forget about it."

"I can't do that, Clara," Cye admitted. "Please let me make it up to you. How about...I make you dinner? Would tonight be okay?"

"Sorry, but I can't," Clara revealed.

"Okay, umm…what about tomorrow night?" Cye asked.

"I have plans tomorrow night," Clara muttered calmly.

"Oh, really? What kind of plans?" Cye asked curiously.

To his and Rowen's surprise, Clara quickly turned around and retorted angrily, "That is none of your business, all right?" With that, she stormed off, leaving Cye and Rowen standing there, baffled over what just happened.

"What's wrong with her?" Rowen asked.

"I have no idea," Cye admitted as they headed to their homeroom...

"Now, let's discuss act one of 'The Crucible', which you all should have finished reading by now," Mr. Garner announced. He was lecturing to his first period class: Introduction to World Literature. "Did anyone have any difficulties understanding 'The Crucible' so far?" Mr. Garner asked. A couple of hands immediately went up, including Kento's.

"Of course, Kento would have a problem with the homework assignment," Sage whispered to Ryo, who was sitting next to him.

"Knowing Kento, he probably didn't even read 'The Crucible!' " Ryo added. The two boys snickered quietly over their remarks.

"I heard that, guys," Kento retorted while Mr. Garner was talking to a girl on the other side of the room, who had her hand up before Kento. "Just so you know, I did read act one of 'The Crucible'. I just don't get why those people actually believed those girls. They were obviously lying about seeing people with the Devil. Come on!"

"Well, at least we know Kento did read 'The Crucible'," Sage remarked.

"Yeah," Ryo agreed. He turned around to talk to Rita. To Ryo's surprise, she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. "Rita, are you okay?" Ryo asked with concern. "You look a little pale."

Rita looked up at Ryo with her eyes glazed over. "I'm fine," she whispered weakly.

"You sure you don't want to go see the nurse?" Ryo asked.

"No, I'll be okay," Rita whispered. Suddenly, she started to sway and fell out of her desk.

"Rita!" Ryo shouted as he quickly left his desk and caught Rita before she hit the floor.

"What happened, Ryo?" Mr. Garner asked as he ran over to Ryo and Rita.

"I think Rita's sick, Mr. Garner," Ryo quickly explained.

"Go take her to Nurse Anderson, Ryo," Mr. Garner ordered as he quickly got out of their way. Mr. Garner held the door open as Ryo helped Rita walk out of the classroom...

As Ryo and Rita walked into the nurse's office, Ryo yelled, "Ms. Anderson!"

A young woman in her thirties, wearing a white nurse's uniform and tennis shoes, came out from behind a white curtain. Her long brown hair was tied up in a bun, and glasses framed her bright brown eyes. "Hello, Ryo," Ms. Anderson greeted as she approached them. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My friend, Rita, almost passed out in class," Ryo explained. "She's so weak that she couldn't even walk here by herself."

Ms. Anderson gently pressed the back of her hand against Rita's forehead. "She's burning up!" she exclaimed. Ms. Anderson walked up to the curtain and pulled it back. "Take her back here, Ryo," she explained. "Rita needs to lie down and get some rest." Ryo nodded in agreement as he took Rita in back and laid her down on an empty bed. "Don't worry about your friend, Ryo. I'll take good care of her," Ms. Anderson told him.

As she headed toward a nearby medicine cabinet, Ryo looked at Rita, whose eyes were halfway open. "Rita, I have to go now," Ryo whispered as he held Rita's hand. "As soon as class is over, I'll come back and see how you're doing, okay?" Rita slowly nodded her head.

"You should head back to class, Ryo," Ms. Anderson suggested. She now held an electronic thermometer in her hand.

"Okay, Ms. Anderson," Ryo reluctantly agreed. He looked back at Rita. "You try to get better, okay?"

"Okay," Rita whispered weakly. Ryo gently squeezed Rita's hand before he let go of it and stood up.

As he started to leave, Ryo noticed that there were two other girls in the beds across from Rita. "What's wrong with them?" he asked the school nurse, who was taking Rita's temperature.

"They became ill earlier today," Ms. Anderson explained. "If they don't get better soon, I'll have to send them both home."

"Do you mind if I come back later to check in on Rita?" Ryo asked.

"Of course not, Ryo," Ms. Anderson admitted.

As Ryo was about to leave, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the other girls were wearing fortune bracelets with red beads, like Rita was. He didn't give it much thought as he left the nurse's office...

It was now sixth period in the cafeteria. Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen were sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, waiting for Ryo to show up. "What could be taking him so long?" Cye asked.

"He said that he was going to check on Rita," Sage reminded him. "The nurse's office is all the way on the other side of the school."

"It's kinda weird that Rita got sick so quickly," Kento muttered out loud. "She was fine this morning, and just like that, she almost passed out on the floor."

"An illness is not entirely predictable, Kento," Rowen revealed as he brought down his textbook. "A person could be fine one minute and suddenly have a cold or the flu the next."

"Hey! There's Ryo now," Kento announced, pointing at the entrance. Sage, Cye, and Rowen looked up and watched as Ryo slowly walked into the cafeteria. His head was hung down and there was a troubled expression on his face.

"Uh-oh. Something bad must have happened to Rita," Sage muttered out loud.

When Ryo finally reached their table, Cye greeted cheerfully, "Hello, Ryo."

"Yeah, whatever," Ryo mumbled quickly as he sat down.

"What's wrong, Ryo?" Sage asked. "Is it Rita?"

Ryo slowly nodded her head.

"It's getting worse?"

"It already did. Ms. Anderson had to send Rita home," Ryo revealed. "There's more. Rita wasn't the only one sick. When I took her to Ms. Anderson, there were two other girls in her office, just as sick as Rita. They were sent home sick, too."

"There's nothing to worry about, Ryo," Rowen assured him. "Probably just some bug going around. Rita will be just fine in a couple of days, at most."

Just then, the guys noticed Clara walking past them, heading toward a table where Sandra and Roxie were sitting. "Hello, Clara," Cye greeted with a smile.

Clara stared at him coldly for a minute. "Humph!" she retorted coldly as she turned her head and continued walking toward Sandra and Roxie's table.

"Geez, Cye! What did you do to her?" Kento asked out of shock.

"That's the problem," Cye admitted. "I haven't got a clue why she's so angry at me. As far as I know, I didn't break anything in her mother's store yesterday."

"Wait a minute. What are you talking about, Cye?" Sage asked curiously.

"Well, you see, umm... Rita, Sandra, and Roxie were in Mother Earth yesterday, buying some things," Cye explained. "I was in back most of the time. A while after they left, my mom called me to the front. She told me that my redhead friend left her bag on the floor. She didn't remember Sandra's name. Anyway, I overheard them talking about going to Enchanted Woods, so that was the first place I checked. And lo and behold, that's where they were. Clara was there, too."

"Of course, she would be there, Cye," Kento retorted. "It is her mother's store."

"Anyway," Cye continued, after giving Kento a quick dirty look, "Clara gave me this strange look, and I panicked. I almost knocked down a display case on my way out, but as far as I know, I didn't break anything."

"What kind of look did she give you that startled you so much, Cye?" Ryo asked curiously. "Was it like that look she just gave you a minute ago?"

"Umm... no," Cye replied. "It was more like the way most girls here look at you, Sage." Suddenly, Sage started to laugh abruptly. "What's so funny?" Cye asked.

"I can't believe it!" Sage managed to get out. "Clara obviously has a major thing for you, and when she lets you know, you chicken out!" Cye turned red from embarrassment as Sage and the others laughed over his situation.

"What's so funny, guys?" Kim asked curiously as she approached them.

"N-Nothing's funny, right, guys?" Cye asked nervously, pleading silently to his friends not to tell Kim.

"Yeah, right, Cye," Kento replied quickly, trying to cover up his snickering.

Kim looked at the guys suspiciously. "Whatever," she muttered out loud as she turned around and walked over to where Clara, Roxie, and Sandra were sitting. Kim noticed that Roxie was starting to nod off, Sandra was skimming over some notes in her notebook, and Clara seemed ticked off about something.

"Hey, whassup, gals?" Kim asked as she sat between Clara and Roxie. Roxie quickly snapped into attention when she heard Kim's voice.

"Hello, Kim," Sandra greeted, still reading over her notes.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked.

"Just doing a quick review of me notes before me Biology test next period," Sandra explained.

Kim nodded and then looked over at Clara. "What's up with you, Clara?" she asked. "You look like you're pissed off at the world."

"Not at the world," Clara muttered angrily. "Just at a certain British imbecile that we all happen to know, unfortunately!"

Kim, Sandra, and Roxie were surprised to hear these words coming from Clara. "You mean Cye?" Sandra asked out of shock. Clara slowly nodded her head. "But, why are you angry at him, Clara?"

The young blond girl didn't answer right away. "I... I don't know, really," she finally answered, a bit confused.

Both Kim and Sandra were confused as well. "That's weird, ain't it, Roxie?" Kim asked. She got no response from the Hispanic girl. Kim looked over and noticed that Roxie had fallen asleep at the table. "Yo, Roxie!" Kim exclaimed loudly as she elbowed Roxie's arm.

"Hmm... what?" Roxie mumbled as she lifted her head from the table.

"Are you okay, Roxie?" Sandra asked with concern. "You've been nodding off all period."

"I have no idea why I'm so tired," Roxie muttered groggily as she rubbed her eyes. "I felt fine this morning, but ever since my last class, I've been feeling very tired."

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" Clara asked curiously.

"Si," Roxie replied. "I just can't shake this off." Just then, the bell rang, which snapped Roxie into alertness.

"Well, looks like we're off to more classes," Kim muttered out loud as she, Clara, Roxie, and Sandra got up from the table and picked up their things.

As the four girls left the cafeteria with the other students, Clara announced, "Good luck on your Biology test, Sandra."

"Yeah, good luck to ya," Kim added as she, Clara, and Roxie turned down a separate hall.

"Thanks, gals," Sandra admitted as she headed to room 178. Before she reached the classroom, however, Sandra felt a terrible pain going through her head. She stopped walking and held her head for a few moments. As she held her head, Sandra didn't notice that the green glass beads on her fortune bracelet glowed with an eerie green light for a couple of seconds.

"Sandra? Are you all right?" she heard Sage ask.

Sandra turned around and saw Sage standing behind her. "Yeah, I'm okay," she replied.

"You sure?" Sage asked. "Maybe you caught what Rita had earlier."

"No, I'm fine, Sage. It was just a little headache. No big deal," Sandra assured him.

"Maybe it was from all that cramming you did for our test," Sage suggested jokingly with a quick laugh. Sandra gave him a dirty look and he kept quiet. Just then, the bell rang again and Sage and Sandra headed into their Biology class...

Meanwhile, somewhere in Dulcea's mysterious spaceship, Devaki was standing alone in a strange room. He was surrounded by dozens of large black crystals. Devaki was focused on one crystal in particular, which was continually flashing on and off with a mysterious deep violet light.

"My plan is working perfectly," Devaki gloated to himself. "I must tell Lady Dulcea the news." He left the room full of black crystals, walked through the dark hallway, and entered the throne room, where Dulcea was sitting on her throne.

"Ah, Devaki," Dulcea started as Devaki bowed to her. "What news do you have for me?"

"I think you'll be pleased to hear that my plan is working just as planned," Devaki announced.

"Excellent work, Devaki," Dulcea admitted. "Tell me more about this plan of yours."

"It's actually quite simple, Lady Dulcea," Devaki explained as he pulled out a couple of bracelets from his coat pocket. "I have created these so- called 'fortune bracelets' and distributed them throughout several stores located in Japan. The beads on these bracelets have been specially stimulated to trigger powerful negative emotions in the wearers of these fortune bracelets, which will produce a vast amount of Black Chi within them. Ha! Fortune bracelets indeed! Humans can be so incredibly naïve."

"That sounds like an excellent plan indeed, Devaki," Dulcea admitted. "Tell me, what kind of negative emotions are triggered by these bracelets of yours?"

"Well, it all depends on the color of the beads, Lady Dulcea," Devaki revealed. "For example, the red beads will trigger illness, the green beads will trigger despair, the purple beads will trigger tiredness, and the blue beads will trigger hatred."

"How much Black Chi have you gathered from these bracelets so far, Devaki?" Dulcea asked.

"The Dark Crystals are already starting to gather and store the Black Chi that is being produced," Devaki admitted. "Unfortunately, it will take a lot of time to gather enough of this dark energy to bring the people of Earth to their knees."

"Well, I suggest you come up with another plan to produce more Black Chi, so the Dark Crystals will become fully charged more quickly," Dulcea stated coldly.

"Yes, I'll do that," Devaki agreed.

"Do it now!" Dulcea shouted angrily, which caused her servant to jump nervously.

"O-of course, Lady Dulcea," Devaki stuttered nervously as he quickly hobbled out of the throne room, leaving Dulcea alone...

Meanwhile, back at Han'a High School, the final bell for seventh period just rang. Several students poured out of their classrooms and into the hallways, including Sage and Sandra.

"That test was a lot easier than I thought!" Sage admitted to Sandra as they walked down the hallway. "How did you think you did, Sandra?"

"I think I failed," Sandra muttered miserably with her head hung down, just loud enough for Sage to hear.

"What?" Sage exclaimed in surprise. "I thought you said you were studying for this since Friday!"

"I did," Sandra muttered.

"Then, what happened?" Sage asked. "Did you forget everything you studied or something?"

"I don't know, Sage," Sandra muttered miserably. "I think me chances of passing this test are slim to none."

"Don't say that, Sandra," Sage told her as they reached the staircase.

"Yeah, whatever you say," Sandra muttered as she started to head downstairs to her next class.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sage shouted. "Since I'm not gonna see you later on, good luck with the soccer finals."

"Yeah, sure," Sandra mumbled out loud as she continued going downstairs. Sage stood there for a few moments, puzzled over Sandra's sudden lack of confidence, before he headed to his own class...

About an hour later, after the final bell had rung, Kim and Roxie were already waiting outside the school for their friends. They were both sitting on a small bench near the old oak tree. Roxie was nodding off again, while Kim was watching the main entrance. She then noticed Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen coming towards them. "Roxie, wake up!" Kim shouted, nudging the sleeping girl slightly with her elbow.

Roxie woke up just as the guys approached them. "Hey, Kim. Hey, Roxie," Kento greeted.

"Whassup, dudes," Kim greeted. Roxie slowly nodded a greeting to the five boys.

"Umm, have either of you seen Clara?" Cye asked curiously.

"I saw her a few minutes ago. I think she already left, Cye," Kim revealed. Cye had a slight look of disappointment on his face.

"Listen, guys, I have to go get ready for soccer practice," Ryo announced. "I'll see you all later, okay?"

"Hey, Ryo, you want one of us to go check on Rita for you?" Sage asked.

"It's okay, guys. I'll call her when I get home from practice, okay?" Ryo asked.

"Okay, Ryo. See you later," Rowen replied as Ryo headed back inside the school. As the remaining four boys and two girls headed down the main road, Rowen noticed that Roxie was walking a bit sluggish and had dark circles under her eyes, as though she had been up all night.

"Roxie, are you all right?" Rowen asked with concern.

"I don't think so, Rowen," Roxie muttered groggily. "I'm very tired. I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to cancel our study plans for today, okay?"

"I understand, Roxie. If you didn't say that just now, I would have told you to forget about it," Rowen admitted. "You should try to get some rest." Roxie slowly nodded in approval as they approached their street corner.

"Do you need help getting to your house, Roxie?" Sage asked. Roxie nodded her head once again, too tired to speak.

"We'll help you out, Roxie. Sage, go on that side," Rowen instructed, pointing to Roxie's left side as he held the exhausted girl up by her right side. Sage nodded in agreement and together, he and Rowen helped Roxie down the street to her house.

"Is it just me, or is there something strange happening with the girls?" Cye asked as he, Kento, and Kim slowly continued walking down the main road.

"You know, maybe it's a kokoro thing," Kento suggested.

"Don't ya think I'd be acting weird if that was true?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"Okay, never mind," Kento muttered out loud. As they turned the next street corner and headed toward their homes, Kim went fishing through her pockets for her house keys. As she pulled the keys out of her flannel shirt pocket, a small piece of paper fell out and landed on the road.

"I'll get that for you, Kim," Cye offered as he bent down and picked up the piece of paper.

"Thanks, Cye," Kim replied as Cye handed her the piece of paper. She looked and it and scoffed a bit.

"What is it, Kim?" Kento asked curiously.

"It's something I picked up at Clara's store," Kim replied. "Forgot I still had it."

"What's it about?" Cye asked.

"It's like a little list, showing what the different colors in them fortune bracelets stand for, ya know." Kim glanced at the paper again and remarked, "Clara obviously hated your guts today, Cye, and according to this, her blue fortune bracelet stood for love. How ironic is that?"

"What about red?" Kento asked abruptly.

"Red? Uh... it stands for health," Kim read from the paper.

"Wasn't Rita wearing a red bracelet?" Cye asked.

"Yup, she was," Kim revealed. "Obviously didn't work for her today," Kento retorted.

"You know, both Sandra and Roxie were also wearing fortune bracelets, right?" Cye asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's right. So?" Kim asked.

"I'm guessing that Sandra's green fortune bracelet stood for hope, and Roxie's purple fortune bracelet stood for energy. Am I right so far?"

"Yeah, you are," Kim admitted after checking the paper again. "How'd you guess?"

"Well, Roxie has been acting as though she's been drained of her energy, and from what Sage told me earlier as we were heading out of school, Sandra's been acting rather hopeless," Cye explained.

"What are you getting at, Cye?" Kento asked suspiciously. "You don't think the bracelets have anything to do with the way they're acting, do you?"

"Well, that's what I think," Cye admitted. "And if I'm right about these bracelets, Dulcea could be behind all this. But, then again, I could be wrong. Clara and her mother do make everything they sell at Enchanted Woods."

"Well, they didn't exactly make them fortune bracelets," Kim revealed. "Clara told me yesterday that some dude came by their store selling those bracelets."

"Kim, could you possibly call Clara and find out who sold her mother those fortune bracelets?" Cye asked.

"Why don't you do it? She lives right next to you... oh, yeah," Kim remarked. "All right, I'll do it."

"Okay, umm. Kento, could you call Sage and try to find out more 'bout how Sandra had been acting earlier?" Cye asked.

"You got it, buddy," Kento replied.

"All right, then. I'll call Rowen and ask how Roxie's doing," Cye announced.

"What about Ryo?" Kim asked.

"Don't worry. I'll call him when he gets home from soccer practice," Cye replied.

"What do we after that?" Kim asked.

"Well, Ryo isn't going to be home till an hour from now, so why don't we meet outside your house, Kim? Around four o'clock, perhaps?" Cye suggested. Kento and Kim nodded in agreement. "All right. Let's get going, Kento," Cye told his friend as they continued walking down the street, while Kim went inside her house...

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Crystal room, Devaki was watching the same Dark Crystal that was still steadily flashing on and off with a deep violet light. After a couple of minutes, the Dark Crystal glowed with a solid deep violet light. "Excellent," Devaki murmured to himself, pleased with the results.

Suddenly, a ringing noise echoed throughout the room. Devaki removed a black cell phone from his jacket pocket, turned it on, and asked, "May I help you?" After listening to the person on the other line talk for a while, Devaki asked, "How many boxes of fortune bracelets do you wish to order, sir?" He listened to the person's response. "Five boxes, sir?" Devaki repeated. "Don't worry, I can have them delivered to you today. It's no problem at all, sir. Thank you, sir. Goodbye."

As Devaki put the phone back in his pocket, he yelled, "Torrent! Hardrock! Get in here!" The two Ronin clones entered the Dark Crystal room, both in their sub-armor.

"What do you want, Devaki?" Hardrock asked.

"I need you two to make a special delivery in Tokyo," Devaki explained.

"How many boxes of those fortune bracelets do we need to deliver?" Torrent asked.

"Five," Devaki replied, "and take this with you." He removed what appeared to be a miniature version of a Dark Crystal contained in a black handle from his pocket and handed it to Torrent.

"What's that for?" Hardrock asked curiously.

"This navigation crystal will help guide any Black Chi that was recently produced from the fortune bracelets back up to the Dark Crystals on the ship," Devaki explained. "Be extremely careful with it. Not only is that crystal irreplaceable, but if it breaks, all the fortune bracelets I've created will become worthless. They'll no longer be able to produce Black Chi within the humans who wear them. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Devaki," Torrent and Hardrock replied simultaneously.

"Good," Devaki replied. "Now, get to work! We do not want to disappoint Lady Dulcea." Torrent and Hardrock both nodded as they teleported away, leaving Devaki alone in the Dark Crystal room...

Meanwhile, outside Kim's house, Kento and Cye were sitting on the front porch, waiting for Kim to join them. A few moments later, they heard the front door open from behind them. Both Kento and Cye turned around and saw Kim leave the house. "Whassup, guys," Kim greeted as she sat between the two boys. "So, what did you two find out?"

"Well, I found out from Rowen that Roxie's still way out of it," Cye announced. "She's been sleeping ever since Rowen and Sage brought her home."

"Speaking of Sage," Kento interrupted, "I just got off the phone with him a while ago, and he said that when Sandra came home from soccer practice, she was totally depressed. The only thing Sandra was positive of was that she wasn't gonna make the team!"

"Dude, that don't sound like Sandra," Kim admitted. "Did ya get in touch with Ryo, Cye?"

"Sure did," Cye admitted. "Just got off the phone with him before I got here. Ryo told me that he called Rita's house after he got home, but her grandfather picked up the phone. Ryo said that according to Mr. Niitsu, Rita had gotten worse and wasn't able to come to the phone at all. There's more. Ryo also told me that he recalled seeing two other girls at the nurse's office when he took Rita there, more or less as sick as she was at the time. And by sheer coincidence, those two girls were also wearing red fortune bracelets, just like Rita's."

"Man, Cye, that's totally freaky!" Kento admitted.

Cye nodded in agreement and looked over at Kim. "So, what did you find out from Clara?" he asked curiously.

"Well, according to Clara, the guy that supplies the fortune bracelets is some dude named A. E. Clud," Kim recalled. "You recognize the name at all? Maybe this Clud guy sells other craft stuff and has done business with your ma."

"I don't recognize the name at all, but maybe my mom will," Cye muttered out loud as he wrote the name down in a small notepad he had on his lap. He flipped the page over when he noticed something about the name by seeing it through the paper. "I can't believe this!" Cye muttered out loud in surprise.

"What is it, Cye?" Kento asked curiously.

"I think my suspicions about these fortune bracelets may be right," Cye revealed as he scribbled something down on the first page. He tore the piece of paper off of his notepad and handed it to Kento. "Look at what A. E. Clud is when it's spelled backwards," Cye explained.

Kim looked over Kento's shoulder at the paper that Cye handed to him. Written on top of the paper in black ink was 'A. E. Clud', and right below it was 'Dulcea'. "Well, I'll be damned," Kim muttered out loud.

"Okay, so you proved that Dulcea is behind this, Cye, but how are we gonna stop her?" Kento asked. "We have no idea how these fortune bracelets work, or where else they deliver them to."

Suddenly, Kim bent halfway down, leaning her head against her knees. "Kim, what's wrong?" Cye asked with concern.

"Man, I got this killer headache," Kim mumbled just loud enough for Cye and Kento to hear. Kim never had a headache like this before. Not only was her head throbbing like crazy, but she also saw images flashing by quickly in her mind.

She first saw an image of a white unmarked delivery truck on a highway, with whom she recognized as Hardrock and Torrent sitting in front, wearing uniforms. The next image was of the truck pulling onto an exit ramp to Tokyo. The last image she saw was of the truck pulled off to the side of a dirt road, with Hardrock and Torrent standing next to it, now wearing their full armor.

"Kim, are you okay?" Kento asked loudly, quickly bringing Kim back to reality. She looked up at he two friends with a shocked look on her face.

"What happened, Kim?" Cye asked.

"Man, that was so weird," Kim muttered out loud. "I saw things, in my mind or something, while I was having this headache."

"What did you see?" Cye asked curiously.

"I saw your evil twins, Hardrock and Torrent," Kim started. "They was driving this delivery truck to Tokyo."

"I don't know about this." Kento muttered, a bit skeptical about Kim's visions.

"This could be for real, Kento," Cye told his friend. "I just remembered that, according to what I've heard, kokoro were said to be seers of the future. And don't forget, Kim is part kokoro."

"You mean I'm gonna have a freaking headache every time I have one of these visions? This totally sucks!" Kim exclaimed loudly.

"Calm down, Kim. We need to stop Torrent and Hardrock from delivering more of those fortune bracelets," Cye announced. "Do you have any idea when this is going to happen?"

"Within the next hour or something," Kim replied.

"If we hurry, we can put a stop to those imposters, Kento!" Cye explained.

"All right!" Kento cheered. "Everyone in the van!"

"Sure thing, Colonel Custer," Kim retorted sarcastically as she, Kento, and Cye headed next door to Kento's house and got into his gold van...

"Here you are, sir," Torrent replied as he handed the last of five boxes to a middle-aged man in a business suit. The man set the box down on the sidewalk and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He took out a few bills and handed them to Torrent, who was dressed in a khaki work uniform, a matching hat, sunglasses, and black work boots.

"Thank you, sir," Torrent replied as he pocketed the money. As the man picked up the box and headed back to his store, Torrent added, "Have a nice day." Cye's clone chuckled evilly to himself as he headed toward a white unmarked delivery truck parked at the curb. "Foolish humans," Torrent muttered to himself as he got into the passenger seat of the truck. "Let's go," he told Hardrock, who was in the driver's seat, wearing the same uniform as Torrent.

"You got it," Hardrock replied as he pulled away from the store and drove down the road leading towards the highway.

As the truck sped down the highway, Torrent glanced at the side view mirror and his eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, Hardrock? Take a look at who's following us," he announced.

Hardrock looked at his side view mirror and grinned mischievously when he recognized the gold van behind him and its three passengers. He especially noticed the looks of determination on Kento and Cye's faces. "Looks like someone wants to settle the score with us, Torrent," Hardrock commented with an evil chuckle.

"Perhaps we should give those two what they want, Hardrock," Torrent suggested with a sinister grin.

"I totally agree with you, Torrent," Hardrock admitted as he steered the truck toward an exit ramp.

"Don't lose 'em, Kento!" Kim shouted from the back seat of the van.

"Chill out, Kim! I'm not gonna lose them!" Kento shouted back to her as he got off the same exit ramp as the unmarked delivery truck. He continued pursuing the truck as it left the main road and entered an old, unpaved dirt road. The truck sped up around a sharp corner and left Kento's sight for a few moments. When he finally turned the corner, Kento, Cye, and Kim noticed that the unmarked truck was parked along the side of the road. Kento quickly pulled to the side and stopped the van, and he and his two passengers cautiously got out of the van.

"Where the hell are they?" Kim asked.

"Perhaps they ditched their truck and continued on foot," Cye suggested.

"I don't know, you guys. Something just doesn't feel right," Kento muttered as they started to walk toward the truck.

Suddenly, the driver's door flew open and Hardrock and Torrent jumped out of the truck, both in their full armor. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Torrent shouted, aiming his energy-charged trident at Cye, Kento, and Kim.

As the powerful blast of water flew straight at them, Cye yelled, "Duck!" The three friends dropped to the ground just in time. Torrent's attack flew right above their heads, barely missing them by inches. Unfortunately, for Kento, the attack didn't miss his van.

"Aww, man!" Kento shouted as he watched Torrent's attack slam into the side of his van, pushing it all the way to the other side of the road into a muddy ditch. Seeing the large dent left by the attack only made Kento angrier. "You're gonna pay for that, Torrent!" he shouted angrily as he and his friends stood up. Kento and Cye quickly changed into their sub-armor.

"Oh, no! I'm really scared now!" Torrent gasped mockingly.

"You know something, Kento of Hardrock? One thing I don't understand about you is how you can care so much about that piece of trash!" Hardrock retorted with a sinister laugh, pointing at Kento's overturned van. The sinister comment only made Kento even angrier.

"Looks to me like you two wanna shake things up with us," Kim remarked as she stepped in front of Kento and Cye. "How's about I return the favor?"

Hardrock's eyes widened when he noticed that Kim's ring was glowing. "Better hold your ground, Torrent," he warned Cye's evil clone.

"What for?" Torrent asked.

"You're about to see for yourself!" Hardrock retorted.

"EARTHQUAKE!" Kim shouted as she brought her fist down to the dirt road. She opened her fist up, and the ground started to shake violently under Hardrock, Torrent, and the unmarked delivery truck. Kento, Cye, and Kim, however, did not feel the ground moving underneath them at all.

"Whoa! I didn't know Kim could do that!" Kento exclaimed out of surprise.

"It's amazing how she can focus her powers like that," Cye admitted with awe.

"Are you two gonna suit up or what?" Kim retorted loudly. "I ain't gonna be able to do this all day!"

Kento and Cye nodded in agreement. "Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!"

"Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

While her two friends were transforming into their full armor, Kim stopped her attack, tired and out of breath from using her kokoro powers. She noticed that Torrent took a moment to check on something in the front of the truck. He turned around and quickly nodded to Hardrock.

_What the hell was he looking at?_ Kim thought curiously.

Kim's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a heavy armored hand on her shoulder. "You better move out of the way, Kim," Kento suggested. Kim nodded as she headed towards the side of the road next to Kento's van. She watched as Kento and Cye withdrew their weapons and charged at Hardrock and Torrent, who were ready for them.

As weapons clashed and blows were exchanged, Kim carefully snuck over to the other side of the delivery truck. She approached the passenger door and looked through the window.

"What the fuck is that?" Kim asked herself as she stared at the small black crystal, which was attached to a black handle, resting on the passenger seat. She watched as the strange-looking crystal began to glow with a deep violet light.

"Whatever that thing is, it must be important," Kim muttered to herself as she opened the passenger door. She carefully picked up the crystal by its handle. Kim could still hear the sounds of Kento and Cye battling Hardrock and Torrent as she closed the door and cautiously made her way to the back of the truck. She peered around the corner of the truck and noticed that Cye and Torrent were locked in battle, neither one willing to give in to the other. Kento and Hardrock were also stuck in the same headlock as Cye and Torrent. Torrent glanced up for a moment and gasped slightly when he noticed Kim heading to the van with the mini Dark Crystal.

"Hardrock! That kokoro has the crystal!" Torrent shouted as he continued fighting Cye.

"I'll stop her!" Hardrock shouted as he quickly swung his naginata under Kento's legs, knocking him to the ground. "IRON ROCK CRUSHER!"

Kim looked over her shoulder and gasped when she saw Hardrock's attack flying straight at her. She quickly fell to the ground, but in the process, she let go of the black crystal, which went flying into the air.

"NO!" Torrent shouted as the min Dark Crystal was struck by one of the jagged boulders, shattering it into tiny shards. Instantly, the immediate area was flooded with a deep violet light.

Kento, Cye, and Kim shielded their eyes from the nearly blinding light. As soon as the light disappeared, the three friends opened their eyes and were surprised to see that Hardrock, Torrent, and the mysterious delivery truck had vanished. "Where did they go?" Kento asked, looking around.

"They disappeared!" Cye exclaimed.

"Whatever that crystal thing was, it must have been really important if they had to make like chickens and run," Kim muttered out loud.

"Let's get outta here," Kento told Cye and Kim.

"Good idea," Kim agreed as they headed toward the overturned van. Kim stood out of the way as Kento and Cye turned the van back onto its wheels, using the power of their armor...

"You are such an idiot!" Torrent shouted at Hardrock as they walked down the dark hallway. "What were you thinking? Just wait till Devaki finds out that you destroyed that navigation crystal!"

"What was that?" Devaki asked. The two Ronin clones turned around and saw Devaki standing behind them.

"Hardrock destroyed your navigation crystal for the fortune bracelets," Torrent admitted.

"That was an accident!" Hardrock shouted. "Besides, I didn't see you trying to stop the kokoro of earth, Torrent!"

"I had me hands full with Cye of Torrent!" Torrent shouted.

"Stop it, you two!" Devaki interrupted. Hardrock and Torrent reluctantly kept quiet. "With the navigation crystal destroyed, the fortune bracelets are completely useless!"

Before he could continue, Devaki, Hardrock, and Torrent heard Dulcea yell, "Devaki! Hardrock! Torrent! Get in here!"

Devaki took in a deep breath before replying, "Right away, Lady Dulcea." He headed down the hallway and into the throne room, followed by Hardrock and Torrent.

"What's the progress on this 'fortune bracelet' plan of yours, Devaki?" Dulcea asked as her three servants bowed to her.

"Unfortunately, there's a slight problem, Lady Dulcea," Devaki admitted nervously.

"What kind of problem?" Dulcea asked.

"Thanks to these bungling idiots, the navigation crystal that would guide the Black Chi back up to the ship has been destroyed!" Devaki exclaimed angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the two Ronin clones standing behind him. "With my navigation crystal destroyed, the fortune bracelets can no longer produce Black Chi."

"Hey! Don't be accusing me, Devaki!" Torrent shouted. "Hardrock's the one who broke your crystal."

"Well, I didn't see you trying to stop her, Torrent!" Hardrock argued.

"Silence!" Dulcea shouted loudly. Devaki, Torrent, and Hardrock stopped arguing and turned towards her. "Devaki, how much Black Chi was successfully gathered?" Dulcea asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid," Devaki confessed reluctantly. "Only one of the Dark Crystals have become fully charged."

Dulcea let out a long frustrated sigh. "You better come up with some more plans to gather Black Chi, Devaki," she stated coldly.

"O-of course, I-I will, Lady Dulcea," Devaki stuttered nervously. "I'll get started right away." Devaki quickly bowed to Dulcea before leaving the throne room, while Torrent and Hardrock watched.

"What are you two still doing here?" Dulcea asked angrily, causing the two Ronin clones to jump nervously.

"N-nothing, Lady Dulcea," Torrent stuttered with Hardrock nodding in approval.

"Then, I suggest you leave... now!" Dulcea shouted. Torrent and Hardrock quickly bowed to her as they left the throne room as well...

"Yo, Kento?" Kim asked Kento, who was sitting next to her on the porch steps of her house.

"Yeah, Kim?" Kento asked.

"Ya think Clara's back to normal?" Kim asked.

Kento looked down the street and noticed two familiar figures approaching them. "Looks like we're about to find out," Kento remarked as he and Kim stood up.

"Aww, how cute!" Kim muttered out loud when she noticed that Cye and Clara were holding hands.

"Hey, Kento. Hey, Kim," Cye greeted as he and Clara approached their friends.

"Hey, Cye," Kento greeted.

"Hey, Clara. How ya doing?" Kim asked.

"I'm fine, Kim," Clara replied as the foursome continued down the road. "Umm... Cye?" Clara asked.

"What is it, Clara?" Cye asked.

"I'm really sorry about the way I acted yesterday," Clara apologized. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking at the time."

"It wasn't your fault, Clara," Cye told her. "You were being controlled by that fortune bracelet you were wearing."

"Yeah, I know. There's one other thing I wanted to ask you. Is your invitation for dinner still available?" Clara asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, it is," Cye quickly answered with a pleased look on his face. "Is tonight okay with you?"

"Tonight's perfect," Clara admitted.

"Check this out. We got a little love connection going on here!" Kim announced teasingly. Both Cye and Clara turned a bit red in the face when they realized that Kento and Kim had heard every word.

"Maybe I should be calling you Casanova from now on, Cye!" Kento joked mischievously.

"Kento!" Cye shouted, his face becoming even redder.

"Hey, guys!" the foursome heard Ryo shout. They looked up and saw Ryo standing at the street corner waiting for them, along with Rita.

"Hello, Ryo, Rita," Cye greeted as they joined their friends.

"How are you feeling today, Rita?" Clara asked curiously.

"Much better now," Rita admitted. "I've never felt better."

"That's good to hear," Clara admitted as she and Rita walked ahead of the others.

"So, can you guys fill me in what happened last night?" Ryo whispered loudly to Kento, Cye, and Kim.

"Don't worry about it, Ryo," Kim told him. "We stopped Dulcea's scam cold. Hell, we put it on ice!"

"You know, since Clara and Rita are no longer under the effects of those fortune bracelets, then Sandra and Roxie should be okay as well," Cye announced.

"Well, time to judge for yourselves," Kento remarked as he pointed at the street corner ahead of them.

Ryo, Cye, and Kim looked up to see Sage, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie waiting for them. "Morning, everyone," Sage greeted as Ryo, Rita, Kento, Kim, Cye, and Clara approached them.

"Hey, Sage," Ryo greeted.

"Ready for another day of school?" Rowen asked.

"Did you have to bring up school, Rowen?" Kento complained loudly. Everyone else laughed at Kento's antics as they continued the walk to Han'a High.

The five boys purposely lagged behind the five girls so they could discuss something amongst themselves. "So, guys, how are Sandra and Roxie doing?" Ryo asked Sage and Rowen.

"Much better than they were yesterday," Sage remarked.

"There's no sign whatsoever that they're still under the negative effects of those fortune bracelets," Rowen added.

"That's good to hear," Cye admitted.

"Yeah, but we're not out of the woods yet," Ryo reminded his friends. "Whatever Dulcea was trying to do with those fortune bracelets, she's going to try it again."

"Yeah, right, Ryo," Kento retorted. "There's no way Dulcea's gonna try that scam with the fortune bracelets again."

"Of course not, Kento, but Dulcea has got to have more than just one plan in mind," Ryo reminded him.

"You know, I'm a bit puzzled as to why Dulcea would want to force people to express such strong negative emotions," Rowen muttered thoughtfully.

"Perhaps it was a means for her to attempt to control everyone," Cye suggested.

"That could be a possibility," Rowen admitted. "I'll have to look into it, though."

"Well, you'd better figure it out soon, because who knows when Dulcea's gonna strike next!" Ryo revealed.

"You got that right, Ryo," Sage agreed.

"We can't let her get away with this!" Cye added.

"Well, one thing's for sure: if Dulcea tries anything, we'll be there to stop her!" Kento claimed boldly. "Right, guys?"

"Right, Kento," Ryo agreed as the others nodded their heads.

"Hey! Don't forget about us!" Kim retorted.

The five boys looked up at their five new friends. "Of course not! All ten of us are in this together," Ryo admitted as the group of friends approached Han'a High School...TO BE CONTINUED


	8. LongLost Sister

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 8-Long-Lost Sister

_It was a beautiful afternoon at a two-story pale blue house with a white roof, white trim, and a spacious front porch. A young boy about seven years old stepped onto the porch with a large red ball in his hands. He blew at a lock of his thick blonde hair, which was in his face. The boy's violet-gray eyes glistened in the sunlight as he bounced the ball on the porch. He was wearing a white polo shirt, khaki shorts, white socks, and brown loafers. _

"Sage!" a woman's voice shouted from inside the house.

Thinking that he was in trouble for playing on the porch, the little boy clutched the ball in both arms and asked, "Yes, Mama?"

"Before you go play in the backyard, wait for your sister, okay?" Mrs. Date asked.

Little Sage groaned before he replied, "Okay, Mama." He sat down on the porch steps and rested his chin against the ball in his lap.

A few minutes later, Sage heard a small pair of feet running toward the front door and turned around. He saw a little five-year-old girl running towards him. Her long straight black hair was tied up in a ponytail with a purple ribbon, which bounced up and down as she ran. She was wearing a short-sleeve white blouse, purple overalls, and white socks.

Before the girl could head out onto the porch, Mrs. Date shouted, "Cassandra Date, what do you think you're doing?"

The girl froze like a statue as her mother approached her. Mrs. Date was a beautiful young woman. Her long blonde tresses hung down her shoulders as she bent down to look at her daughter, who was staring down at the porch. "Cassandra, look at me," she whispered gently. Cassandra looked up into her mother's bright blue eyes. "Didn't I tell you that you can't run in the house?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Mommy," Cassandra whispered bashfully.

"That's a good girl," Mrs. Date replied as she patted her daughter on the head. "Sage, help your sister get her shoes on." Sage grumbled a bit to himself as he stepped back inside the house and tied Cassandra's black tennis shoes on for her.

_"Have fun, you two," Mrs. Date announced as she headed back to the kitchen, while her two children stepped onto the porch. _

Sage got down the porch steps with no problem. He turned around and groaned as he watched his sister slowly climb down the steps, one at a time.

_"Come on, Cassandra!" Sage whined impatiently. As soon as Cassandra climbed off of the last step, Sage grabbed her by the hand and led her to the backyard._

_"Why couldn't I have a little brother instead?" Sage mumbled angrily to himself. _

Sage didn't like to admit it, but he really did like his sister. One thing he liked about Cassandra was her dark jet-black hair. She got it from their dad, whereas Sage got his golden locks from his mom. Another thing he was proud of was that both he and Cassandra had violet-gray eyes. Sage didn't understand why the boys in his first-grade class teased him about his eyes.

Sage remembered one time when he asked his mom, "Why do the boys at school tease me about my eyes?"

His mom just smiled and replied, "Don't worry about what those boys say at school, Sage. They're just jealous because your eyes are very special."

Suddenly, Sage felt a tug on his arm. "What is it, Cassandra?" he asked his little sister.

"Can we please play a game with your new ball?" Cassandra asked curiously.

"Okay! Hold this," Sage exclaimed as he handed his ball to his sister.

_Cassandra held the ball and watched as her older brother pulled out some small square mats from a little outdoor shed. Sage put one mat down in front of his sister, and then he dropped three more mats on the grass, forming a miniature baseball diamond. _

"You ready, Cassandra?" Sage asked as he ran into the center of the surrogate baseball field. The little girl nodded her head in approval.

_"Roll me the ball," Sage instructed. Cassandra rolled the ball and Sage caught it._

_"Okay, we're gonna play kickball," Sage announced. _

"What's kickball?" Cassandra asked.

"It's like baseball, only you kick the ball instead of hitting it with a bat," Sage explained.

"Oh, okay," Cassandra replied while slowly nodding her head.

"I'm gonna roll the ball to you, and then you kick it," Sage instructed. He put the ball on the ground in front of him and pushed it.

Cassandra waited until the ball was a few feet away from her, then she ran towards it and kicked it as hard as she could. The red ball quickly bounced past Sage and rolled into the woods behind the house.

_"I'm sorry, Sage," Cassandra apologized. _

"Stay here, and I'll go get my ball," Sage told her before he ran into the woods. He had been in the woods many times before with his father, so he wasn't afraid. Sage finally found his new ball, which was lying in a pile of twigs and leaves that looked like an old bird's nest. He was about to pick it up when he heard Cassandra scream...

A loud beeping sound quickly woke Sage up from his dream. He sat up in his bed for a moment before he reached over and turned off his alarm clock. Sage wiped the cold beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand as he breathed in heavily.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Sage's bedroom door. "Sage? Are you awake?" a woman's voice asked.

Sage let out a deep sigh before replying, "Yes, I am, Mom."

"Well, hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is almost ready," Mrs. Date announced.

"Okay, Mom," Sage replied as he got out of bed. He headed over to a nearby chair, where a pale yellow shirt and a pair of khaki slacks lay in a folded pile.

After grabbing his clothes from the chair, Sage headed back over to his bed, sat down, and started to get changed. After he slid his shirt over his head, Sage's eyes focused on a silver-plated double picture frame on his bed stand. In the left frame was a picture of himself when he was seven. In the right frame was a picture of the little black-haired girl from his dream. Sage picked up the silver frame and stared at the picture of the smiling little girl.

"Cassandra, where are you?" Sage whispered sadly. He held the picture frame for a few more moments before he set it back on his bed stand.

After he slid his brown loafers on, Sage slowly stood up and grabbed his navy blue jacket, which was hanging from a hook on his wall, and his backpack from the floor. Sage let out a deep sigh as he opened his bedroom door and walked down the hall leading to the stairs. He slowly climbed down the stairs and cut through the living room to the kitchen.

"Good morning, son," Mr. Date greeted as Sage entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Dad," Sage greeted back as he hung his jacket on the back of an empty chair and sat down.

"Hope you two are hungry," Mrs. Date announced as she placed a large platter of hot French toast in the center of the table.

"Thank you, dear," Mr. Date replied as his wife joined him and their son at the kitchen table. As Mr. Date loaded a couple of pieces of French toast on his plate, he noticed that Sage was just sitting there, with a strange guilt-ridden look in his eyes. "Sage? Are you all right, son?" Mr. Date asked.

"I'm just fine, Dad," Sage replied quickly as he reached over, grabbed a piece of French toast with his fork, and placed it on his plate.

"Sage, if there's something bothering you, you can tell us," Mrs. Date assured her son as he took a bite of his French toast.

There was a long pause of silence before Sage cleared his throat. "I, umm...I had that dream again," Sage muttered hesitantly before taking a drink of milk.

Sage's parents glanced at each other for a moment, then they both looked at their son with concern in their eyes.

"Sage, sweetheart, it's not your fault," Mrs. Date whispered softly.

"Yes, it is, Mom," Sage argued. "I shouldn't have left Cassandra alone in the backyard. I should have done something to stop that creep instead of just standing there!" He groaned loudly out of frustration as he slammed his fist against the kitchen table.

"Sage, let me remind you that you were only seven at the time," Mr. Date explained as he put a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder. "There's no way you could have stopped that man from kidnapping Cassandra. Matter of fact, if you had arrived any sooner, you probably would have been kidnapped as well."

Sage sat at the table in complete silence for a few moments. "I better get ready for school," he muttered out loud as he got up and took his jacket off the back of the chair.

As he put his jacket on, Mrs. Date glanced at the wall clock. "Sage, it's still early," she remarked as she looked back at her son.

"Yeah, I know, but I gotta wake up Rowen first," Sage replied as he picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. "You know Rowen. That guy can sleep through an earthquake!"

"Goodbye, Sage," Mr. Date said as Sage opened the kitchen door leading outside.

"Have a nice day at school," Mrs. Date added.

"Thanks," Sage replied as he left the house.

Sage started walking down the street, lost in his thoughts. He was so focused that he didn't notice a certain redhead girl leave her house on the opposite side of the street.

"Hey, wait up, Sage!" Sandra shouted as she ran down the street after the blonde boy that she eventually learned to tolerate.

"Good morning to ya," Sandra greeted cheerfully as she caught up with Sage.

"Yeah, good morning, Sandra," Sage mumbled out loud. The two friends walked down the street in silence for a few minutes.

"Sage, is there something bothering you?" Sandra asked curiously.

"No. What makes you think that?" Sage asked.

"Well, you haven't tried to flirt with me yet, so there must be something wrong with you!" Sandra joked with a small smirk on her face.

"Very funny, Sandra," Sage retorted dryly.

"Come on, Sage. What's wrong?" Sandra prodded.

"Nothing's wrong, Sandra!" Sage snapped a bit rudely. "I just didn't sleep well last night, okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Sandra retorted, trying not to show that she was a bit hurt by Sage's sudden rudeness. "Touchy this morning, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry, Sandra," Sage apologized. "I just got a lot on my mind."

"That's okay, Sage," Sandra replied. "Just don't take it out on me anymore, all right?"

"Okay, Sandra," Sage agreed. "I'm really sorry about snapping at you like that."

"All right, Sage. Just don't do it again, okay?" Sandra asked as they approached Rowen's house.

"Gotcha," Sage replied.

"Buenos dias, Sage and Sandra," Roxie greeted cheerfully, who had just joined them on the street.

"Morning, Roxie," Sandra greeted.

"Morning, Roxie," Sage muttered as he walked past the two girls to Rowen's door.

"What's with him?" Roxie asked Sandra.

"I don't know, really," Sandra admitted. "Sage told me that he didn't sleep well last night, but I think he's covering up for something else. I just can't put me finger on it."

Roxie was about to say something when a loud buzzing sound interrupted her. She and Sandra looked across the street and noticed that Sage was holding down the doorbell button with his finger.

"Oh, great! Now he's taking it out on Rowen!" Sandra remarked as Sage continued to hold down the doorbell button. He finally stopped ringing the doorbell when Rowen quickly opened the door, with an irritated expression on his face and his hands covering his ears.

"What did you do that for, Sage?" Rowen asked in an annoyed tone as he brought his hands down.

"Just making sure your doorbell was working, Rowen," Sage stated. "Come on. Let's get going."

"Okay," Rowen replied slowly as he followed Sage across the street to join Sandra and Roxie.

As the four friends walked down the street, Sage asked, "Any idea what Dulcea was up to with those fortune bracelets, Rowen?"

"To be honest, I haven't the faintest idea," Rowen confessed.

"What about that idea Cye had the other day?" Sage asked. "You know, about Dulcea trying to control everyone with those bracelets?"

"Unfortunately, Cye's theory fizzled out," Rowen reluctantly admitted.

"Don't worry about it, Rowen," Roxie told him. "If anyone can figure out what Dulcea is up to, you can."

"Thanks, Roxie," Rowen replied. "But it's not going to be easy. I've been racking my brain for a logical explanation for this, but so far, nothing fits."

"You might be going at this all wrong," Sage interrupted. "Not everything has a logical explanation to it, Rowen."

"I hate to admit it, but Sage could be right," Sandra muttered out loud as they arrived at the street corner.

"Well, what do you suggest, Sage?" Rowen asked curiously.

"The answer could be more spiritual than logical," Sage replied.

"I don't know about that..." Rowen muttered thoughtfully.

"Just hear me out, all right?"

"I'm listening."

"This is from what I've learned from practicing meditation with my father. There is a balance of karmic energy within the body known as Chi. There are two types of Chi: White Chi and Black Chi. Meditation is supposed to help achieve a perfect balance between the White and Black Chi."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with Dulcea's fortune bracelet plot?" Rowen asked.

Before Sage could answer him, Sandra announced, "Sorry to interrupt, but our friends are coming."

Sage and Rowen looked up and saw Ryo, Rita, Kento, Kim, Cye, and Clara walking towards them. "I guess you'll have to tell me the rest later," Rowen told Sage.

"When would be a good time?" Sage asked.

"Lunchtime would be the best time," Rowen replied. "With all the noise, no one else will overhear what we're saying, and you can fill the others in on what's going on as well."

"All right," Sage agreed.

"Morning, guys," Ryo greeted as he, Rita, Kento, Kim, Cye, and Clara approached Sage, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie.

"Good morning, Ryo," Sage and Rowen replied as the ten friends continued the walk to school.

"So, Rowen, have you figured out the deal with those fortune bracelets?" Ryo asked Rowen.

"No, not yet," Rowen replied.

"So my idea didn't fit at all?" Cye asked.

"Sorry, Cye, but controlling people with those bracelets couldn't possibly be the case," Rowen told him.

"And why not?" Kento asked.

"There are two reasons, Kento. First of all, those fortune bracelets were sparsely distributed only in Japan. And second, the bracelets would have appealed more to girls than to boys," Rowen explained.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that, Rowen," Cye admitted.

"You know, Sage has come up with a theory of his own," Rowen added.

"Really? What is it, Sage?" Ryo asked. Sage didn't respond at all.

"Earth to Sage! Come in, Sage!" Kento shouted loudly, bringing Sage back to reality.

"I'm sorry. What?" Sage asked.

"Are you all right, Sage?" Cye asked curiously.

"I'm fine, Cye," Sage muttered out loud. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Now, what did you ask me about, Ryo?"

"Rowen told us that you came up with an idea about what Dulcea's up to," Ryo explained. "Care to tell us about it?"

Before Sage could reply, Cye announced, "Looks like it's going to have to wait till later. We're almost at the school now." Ryo, Sage, Rowen, and Kento looked up and saw Han'a High School up ahead.

"Sage can explain his theory during lunch. Is that all right with you guys?" Rowen asked.

"I think we can do that," Ryo admitted as Cye and Kento nodded their heads in approval.

"It'd be best if we meet in the courtyard for lunch," Rowen suggested. "The cafeteria gets so noisy that we won't be able to hear each other clearly."

"Good idea, Rowen. The courtyard it is," Ryo agreed as he and his nine friends entered Hana High School...

_Little Sage was about to pick up his red ball from the old bird's nest when he suddenly heard a girl's terrified scream._

_"Cassandra?" Sage shouted as he turned around and started running through the woods._

_"Cassandra!" Sage shouted again as he made his way back to the backyard, where he had left his sister. _

When he finally reached the backyard, Sage stopped running and gasped loudly out of shock. Standing in the backyard was a tall stranger, unfamiliar to the little boy. He was wearing a long-sleeve charcoal gray shirt with dark purple thorn-covered vines embroidered on the front, charcoal gray pants, and shiny black leather shoes. The stranger's short hair was white in color, despite his youthful face and slight muscular build.

Sage looked down and gasped again when he saw Cassandra lying on the ground in front of the tall stranger. From the looks of it, it appeared that Sage's little sister had fainted when the stranger surprised her. Sage began to grow angry when the stranger knelt down to pick up Cassandra.

_"Leave her alone!" Sage shouted as he charged toward the stranger. _

The young man quickly looked up and glared at the little boy with his chilling ice-blue eyes. He narrowed his eyes, which started to glow a pale blue. Suddenly, to Sage's surprise, he stopped running as a strange chill went through his body, encasing him in a pale blue light.

The young man snickered softly at Sage's attempt to save his little sister. "Nice try, kid, but not good enough," he retorted evilly as he scooped up the unconscious girl in his arms.

"No! Cassandra!" Sage shouted as he struggled to move. Despite his efforts, Sage wasn't able to move an inch.

"Don't worry, little boy. We'll meet again... when I come back for you!" the stranger announced. He let out a sinister laugh as he and Cassandra disappeared into thin air.

Just as soon as they disappeared, the strange light that kept Sage frozen vanished as well. Sage fell to his hands and knees, completely bewildered over what had just happened. He quickly got up and ran to the front porch.

_"Mama! Mama! Some strange man took Cassandra!" Sage shouted as he ran into the house...  
_  
"Sage? SAGE!" Kento shouted loudly, bringing Sage out of his daydream.

"Hmm... what?" Sage asked.

"For the third time, Sage, can I have your potato chips?" Kento asked, pointing at an unopened bag of potato chips lying on the picnic table in front of Sage.

"Sure, help yourself," Sage muttered out loud.

"All right!" Kento cheered as he took the bag of chips.

"Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late," Cye apologized as he joined Sage, Kento, and Ryo at the picnic table.

"Don't worry about it, Cye. You're not the only one that's late," Ryo pointed out. "Rowen hasn't shown up yet."

"Rowen is always late for everything!" Kento complained loudly before he popped a handful of potato chips in his mouth.

"Look, since Rowen isn't here yet, I can fill you guys in on what I already told him," Sage announced.

"We're listening," Ryo revealed.

"Well, this is something I learned from practicing meditation with my father. Within the body, there is a balance of karmic energy known as Chi. There are two types: White Chi and Black Chi. Meditation is supposed to help achieve a perfect balance between these two energies."

"Yeah, yeah. Very interesting, Sage, but what does that have to do with Dulcea's scam?" Kento asked dully.

"That's what Rowen asked me earlier," Sage admitted. "I'll let you know when he gets here."

"Speaking of Rowen, here he comes," Cye announced as he pointed at Rowen, who had just entered the courtyard. Besides his bagged lunch, Rowen was carrying a small plastic case in his other hand.

"Hey, Rowen," Ryo greeted as their blue-haired friend sat down at the picnic table with them.

"Hey, guys. I apologize for taking so long," Rowen apologized. "Mr. Lobello, the teacher for my Criminal Justice class, needed to speak with me after Study Hall."

"No way! You got in trouble, for once in your lifetime?" Kento asked out of surprise.

"That's definitely the only reason why any teacher would want to see you after class, Kento!" Cye remarked.

"You better watch it, Cye!" Kento retorted loudly.

"Knock it off, you two!" Ryo interrupted. Kento and Cye reluctantly kept quiet.

"Look, I didn't get in trouble with Mr. Lobello. He wanted to give me this." Rowen showed his four friends the plastic case he had with him. Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Sage could see that within the semi-transparent plastic case was a CD.

"What the heck is that?" Kento asked curiously.

"It's a CD-ROM I'm using for a Criminal Justice project," Rowen explained. "It's a new software program designed to help the police create more accurate composite drawings of escaped criminals and missing persons. This program's been working very well in the United States, so the software's designers decided to distribute the program internationally."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Cye admitted.

"Wait a minute! If the cops are supposed to be using this thing, then how did you get your hands on it, Rowen?" Kento asked suspiciously.

"Well, it just so happens that Mr. Lobello has a brother who's a captain of the Tokyo City Police Department," Rowen revealed. "Don't worry, I'm not doing anything illegal here."

"Well, since you're here, Rowen, Sage can finish explaining his idea to us," Ryo announced.

"Yeah, Sage. Tell us, how does this Chi fit into Dulcea's scheme for taking over our world?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Well, Chi represents a true balance within a person, kinda like the idea of Yin-Yang in China," Sage explained. "Black Chi would represent the Yin, and White Chi would represent the Yang. Most of the time, people have an even balance of Chi, but sometimes, the Chi can be thrown out of balance."

"How can that happen, Sage?" Ryo asked.

"It all depends on a person's character. Anyone who's considered a generous or selfless person would have more White Chi than they normally would," Sage explained. "Anyone who's seen as a hateful, corrupt person would have much more Black Chi than White Chi."

"Dulcea definitely has a lot of that Black Chi in her!" Kento remarked.

"You got that right, Kento," Cye agreed.

"Another way that the Chi can be thrown out of balance is when a person expresses a very strong emotion," Sage continued. "If the emotion's a positive one, like love or hope, the White Chi overpowers the Black Chi. However, if someone were to express a strong negative emotion, such as cruelty or jealousy, the Black Chi would become stronger."

"I think I see what you're getting at, Sage," Rowen mused thoughtfully.

"Mind explaining it to the rest of us?" Kento asked.

"It could be possible that Dulcea has found a way to harness this Black Chi as an energy source," Rowen explained. "If so, she's probably saving it for something big."

"That would explain those fortune bracelets," Ryo muttered thoughtfully. "They were forcing our friends to express some really bad emotions."

"Yeah, and Dulcea probably managed to collect some Black Chi from them," Sage added.

"Just some? Why not all of it?" Kento asked.

"Although Black Chi is negative energy, everyone needs as least enough of it to balance with the White Chi," Sage explained. "It's like with Yin-Yang. The balances of the two forces interact with each other to achieve perfect harmony. The same goes for White and Black Chi. If either one of the two forms of Chi was completely removed from a person, he or she would die. It would be impossible for anyone to live with just one type of Chi inside of them."

"Then that would mean that even Dulcea has the slightest bit of White Chi inside of her," Cye realized.

"Yeah, but not enough for her to make a complete turnaround, unfortunately," Sage pointed out.

"You know, Sage, your theory made more sense than I originally thought it would," Rowen admitted.

"Thanks, Rowen... I think," Sage muttered out loud.

"So, if Sage is right about this, we all have to make sure to keep our emotions in check, or one of us will end up being Dulcea's next target," Ryo announced.

"You got it, Ryo," Kento agreed as Cye and Rowen nodded in approval. Just then, the bell rang, ending lunch period for the day...

"Let's see..." Rowen muttered thoughtfully to himself as he typed away at the computer. School had ended a few hours ago and Rowen was on the home computer in his living room. "There, that should do it," Rowen muttered to himself as he opened up the program. The screen became black for a moment, and then a page came up with a list of instructions.

"Okay, first thing is to put the picture in the scanner," Rowen murmured as he opened a scanner that was on the left side of the computer. He quickly placed a picture facedown on the scanner, closed it, and pressed a button marked SCAN.

As he waited for the scanner to finish scanning the picture, Rowen heard the doorbell ring. "Hold on! I'm coming!" he shouted as he approached the front door and opened it.

"Hey, Rowen," Sage greeted, who was carrying a large book under his arm.

"Hey, Sage. Did you come by to make sure the doorbell was working again?" Rowen asked sarcastically.

"Okay, I deserved that," Sage admitted. "I said I was sorry, Rowen. I wasn't exactly in a good mood this morning."

"I understand," Rowen replied. "Wanna come in?"

"Sure, but I can't stay long, though," Sage replied as he entered Rowen's house.

"So, what brings you here?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Well, I'm returning this book I borrowed from you last week," Sage explained as he handed the book to Rowen.

"Thanks, Sage," Rowen replied as he headed to a bookshelf next to the computer and put the book on the top shelf.

"So, what are you doing, Rowen?" Sage asked curiously when he saw an old black-and-white photograph of a little baby girl appear on the computer screen.

"Remember that software program I mentioned earlier that Mr. Lobello loaned me?" Rowen asked as he approached the computer.

"Oh, yeah. That one where you can make composite drawings of missing people," Sage muttered out loud.

"Well, I'm about ready to run the program by using this photograph that I scanned earlier," Rowen explained as he sat down at the computer desk. "Care to witness the demonstration?"

"Sure, I guess," Sage replied.

"This program is quite advanced, Sage. Besides the scanned photograph, the only piece of information required is the person's birthdate," Rowen explained as he started to type away at the computer. "With the birthdate, the program automatically calculates how old the person will be in present time and creates a nearly accurate composite of what that person will look like, even if several years have passed since that person was last seen." After he finished entering the birth date, Rowen used the mouse to click on a button marked START PROGRAM. Instantly, a message popped up, reading LOADING... PLEASE WAIT.

"Whoa," Sage exclaimed slowly. "How accurate is this program anyway, Rowen?"

"According to the statistics I've read about this program, it's approximately ninety-three percent accurate," Rowen replied. "That's a much better accuracy than what the police's composite artists can do."

"Oh, really?" Sage asked nonchalantly, trying to hide the fact that he was really interested. Just then, the two boys heard a beeping noise from the computer.

"Okay, it's finished," Rowen explained as he watched the original photograph download on the computer screen. "There's the photograph that I originally scanned, Sage. In about a minute, the composite drawing will download next to the photograph for comparison."

"Whose picture did you scan for this, Rowen?" Sage asked curiously.

Rowen glanced up and noticed that the composite drawing had finished downloading on the computer screen. "Why don't you take a look and tell me who you think it is?" Rowen asked.

Sage looked at the computer screen and gasped when he recognized the drawing of a woman in her mid-thirties with shoulder-length hair. "That's your mom!" Sage exclaimed out of surprise.

"I know," Rowen replied.

"That's amazing," Sage admitted. "Rowen, do you know if you could print a missing person's poster from your computer?"

"Now that's easy," Rowen boasted. He looked up at Sage and asked, "Why the sudden interest in this, Sage? I'm starting to get the feeling that you came here for another reason other than returning that book to me."

Sage let out a deep sigh. "You got me, Rowen." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a wallet. Sage opened it up, pulled out a small photograph, and handed it to Rowen without a word.

Rowen studied the photograph, which was of a little five-year-old girl with long black hair and violet-gray eyes. "This girl, she has the same color eyes as you, Sage," Rowen remarked.

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that," Sage muttered out loud.

"And what's that? Is she your cousin?" Rowen asked curiously.

"No, she's not," Sage replied.

"Then, who could she be?" Rowen asked. "She couldn't possibly be your sister. You don't have one." Rowen looked up at Sage and noticed the strange look in his friend's eyes. "Sage, is this girl your sister?" Rowen asked curiously.

Sage slowly nodded his head. "Her name's Cassandra. About ten years ago, Cassandra was kidnapped at our old home back in California."

"How come you never told me about this?" Rowen asked. "We've been friends ever since you moved to Toyama and you never told me that you had a sister."

"Truth is, it was just too painful for me to bring up, Rowen," Sage revealed. "I was playing with her in the backyard the day it happened. I just left her for a minute to get my ball and..." Sage closed his eyes and kept his head bowed down, so Rowen wouldn't see the tears starting to form in his eyes.

"It must have been very hard on you," Rowen muttered thoughtfully.

"You have no idea, Rowen," Sage muttered out loud as he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Why do you want me to print this poster out for you? What do you plan on doing with it?" Rowen asked curiously.

"I was going to make copies and post them around Toyama, Tokyo, and all the areas in between," Sage replied.

"What for?" Rowen asked.

"Look, the police who worked on the case back in California had a lead that the man who took Cassandra went on a flight with her to Tokyo," Sage revealed. "They believed that Cassandra is living somewhere in Japan, possibly under another name. Odds are she probably doesn't even remember me or my mom and dad. I would do anything to find Cassandra."

Rowen looked back down at the photograph of Sage's little sister and let out a deep sigh. "Okay, I'll do it for you, Sage," Rowen finally replied.

"You will? Thanks a lot, Rowen," Sage admitted with a relieved look on his face as Rowen placed Cassandra's picture in the scanner and scanned it onto his computer.

"I'll need to know Cassandra's birth date for the program, Sage," Rowen revealed.

"All right, Rowen. Cassandra was born on July second, 1975," Sage told him.

Rowen quickly entered the birth date into his computer. "All right. Here we go," Rowen announced as he clicked on the START PROGRAM button. Sage watched over Rowen's shoulder as the program slowly started to load the scanned photograph of Cassandra on the computer screen, which was eventually followed by a composite drawing of a fifteen-year-old teenage girl with long straight black hair and violet-gray eyes.

"In order to make this look more like a professional missing person's poster, I just need to enter her name, age, and your phone number," Rowen revealed. "That way, if anyone recognizes this composite drawing of your sister, they'll know who to call."

Sage nodded in approval and watched as Rowen typed the information on his computer and clicked on the PRINT button. Instantly, the printer on the right side of the computer printed out the missing person's poster of Cassandra.

"Here you go, Sage," Rowen announced as he took the sheet of paper out of the printer and handed it to Sage. "Just go down to the library and make as many copies as you need."

"Thanks a lot, Rowen. I won't forget this," Sage admitted as he headed for the front door...

It was now late at night in the city of Toyama. Sage was just leaving the Toyama City Library, carrying a huge stack of flyers in his arms. As he walked down the sidewalk, Sage stopped into every store to put a poster on the store's window. He also stopped to tape up posters onto every telephone pole he came across. After putting yet another missing person's poster of Cassandra on the side of a brick building, next to a group of other posters also plastered on the wall, Sage continued on his way.

"I sure hope this works," Sage muttered to himself as he kept making his way through Toyama.

With his back turned, Sage never noticed a stranger approaching the wall. The stranger was wearing a long trenchcoat, dark sunglasses, and a hat that covered most of his blonde hair. He focused on the poster that Sage put up a while ago and carefully tore it off. The stranger held the poster in his hands, studying it with great interest. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him before he entered a dark alley. When he reached a dead end, the stranger chuckled sinisterly as he removed his sunglasses, revealing sinister green eyes with no pupils.

"So, Sage of Halo, it appears that you've been keeping a little secret," Halo muttered out loud. "Lady Dulcea should be very interested in this." Halo let out another sinister chuckle as he teleported away...

Meanwhile, up in the mysterious black spaceship, Dulcea was sitting on her ebony-carved throne. "Devaki, come forth!" she ordered.

Devaki quickly hobbled into the throne room. "Yes, Lady Dulcea?" Devaki asked as he bowed respectively to her.

"Have you come up with any new plans yet, Devaki?" Dulcea asked. "I'm growing impatient with you."

"Well, when it comes to collecting Black Chi, it would be best to target a single human at a time," Devaki announced.

"And why should we do that?" Dulcea asked.

"By targeting a single human rather than a group of them, I can assure you that the Black Chi we collect will be more powerful," Devaki explained. "And it would also be faster. Since the Black Chi is more concentrated, we won't need to collect as much."

"If this is the best way to collect the Black Chi that we need, then so be it," Dulcea stated.

"Excellent! All we need to do now is select our first victim," Devaki announced. "We'll need someone with an excessive amount of Black Chi within them."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Halo asked as he teleported into the throne room, wearing his green and dark gray sub-armor.

"And who would you suggest, Halo?" Devaki asked curiously.

Halo stopped in front of the throne and bowed respectively to Dulcea before replying, "That would be my other half: Sage of Halo."

"Why him?" Devaki asked curiously. "He fights for good and humanity. How could Sage of Halo possibly have an overwhelming amount of Black Chi in his body?"

"It's been building up inside of him for a very long time, but he's been hiding it from the others," Halo explained. "Ten long years of grief and guilt."

"How do you know this, Halo?" Dulcea asked curiously.

Halo reached behind his back and took out a piece of folded paper, which he handed to Dulcea. She opened it up and saw the two faces of a five-year-old girl and a fifteen-year-old teenage girl, both with black hair and violet-gray eyes. "Who is this?" Dulcea asked.

"That young girl in the drawing is Sage's sister, Cassandra," Halo explained. "From my psychic link with Sage of Halo, I discovered that this girl was kidnapped ten years ago, when he was just a mere boy. Sage of Halo has been blaming himself for his sister's kidnapping ever since."

"Ten years of grief and guilt would produce a tremendous amount of powerful Black Chi, Lady Dulcea," Devaki admitted. "We'll have much more Black Chi than before, once this dark energy is harvested from Sage of Halo."

"How do you plan on collecting the Black Chi from Sage of Halo, Devaki?" Dulcea asked.

"The first step would be to trick Sage of Halo into thinking that he has found his sister," Devaki explained. "I'll have someone pose as Sage's sister and convince him to meet in a secluded area. When his guard is down, Halo will intervene and zap Sage of Halo dry of his excess Black Chi."

"It would be a great pleasure to do this for you, Lady Dulcea," Halo admitted sinisterly.

"Unfortunately, in this case, we will have to wait for some time, at least a week," Devaki admitted.

"And why must we wait?" Halo asked impatiently.

"If we try to trick Sage of Halo too soon, he may become suspicious," Devaki explained.

"Perhaps you are right, Devaki," Dulcea admitted.

"And this opportunity would also give me the time necessary to find someone to impersonate this Cassandra," Devaki added.

"Very well, then," Dulcea replied. "Devaki, find someone to impersonate Sage of Halo's sister right away!"

"I'm on it, Lady Dulcea," Devaki replied before he and Halo left the throne room...

"Hey, Mom! I'm home!" Sage announced as he entered the kitchen of his house.

"Hey, Sage," Mrs. Date greeted, who was standing at the open refrigerator door. "How was school today?"

"Just fine, Mom," Sage replied as he took off his backpack. "Where's Dad?"

"He's teaching a class at the dojo," Mrs. Date replied as she took an uncooked pork loin in a ceramic dish out of the fridge.

"Mom, have there been any calls yet?" Sage asked curiously.

"I'm sorry, Sage, but no one has called about Cassandra today," Mrs. Date reluctantly told her son.

Sage groaned out of frustration as he plopped down in a seat at the kitchen table. "I don't get it, Mom. I put up those posters over a week ago. Someone should have called us by now."

"Sage, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you know that you shouldn't expect a response so soon," Mrs. Date revealed while she placed the ceramic dish in the oven. "You just have to be patient, sweetheart."

"Yeah, I know, Mom," Sage muttered out loud.

Mrs. Date smiled a bit at her son as she picked up her jacket and purse. "Sage, would you mind staying in the kitchen for a while and keeping an eye on my roast for me?" Mrs. Date asked. "I have to go to the store and pick up a few things for dinner."

"Sure thing, Mom," Sage replied as he took a book and binder out of his backpack. "I'll just do my homework in here until you get back."

"Thank you, Sage. I'll be back soon," Mrs. Date replied as she put on her jacket and left the house.

Sage got up from the table, opened the refrigerator, and took out a red apple. He rinsed it off in the sink and dried it with a paper towel. Sage took a bite out of the apple as he sat back down at the table. He started to flip through his book until he reached a certain page and started to read.

Just then, the phone started to ring. Sage immediately got up from the table and grabbed the phone right after its first ring. "Hello?" Sage asked a bit anxiously.

"Hey, Sage," Rowen greeted over the telephone.

"Oh. Hey, Rowen," Sage replied with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"What's wrong, Sage? Did I call at a bad time?" Rowen asked curiously.

"It's not that, Rowen," Sage admitted. "I was kinda hoping that it was going to be someone who recognized Cassandra from those posters I put up a week ago."

"Oh, I see," Rowen muttered out loud. "Don't worry so much, Sage. You'll find your sister, I'm sure of it, so don't give up."

"I don't know the meaning of the words, especially when it comes to finding Cassandra," Sage remarked. "It was the same case when we were battling Talpa and his Evil Dynasty a year ago."

"I think during that time, all of us forgot the meaning of the words 'give up'," Rowen replied.

"Sorry to do this to you, Rowen, but could you get off the phone?" Sage asked. "I'd like to keep the line clear, you know, just in case someone calls."

"I understand, Sage. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Rowen," Sage replied before he hung up the phone. He sat back down at the table and tried to read his book, but he couldn't focus.

_I can't concentrate. My mind is on Cassandra. I just hope that she's out there somewhere, that she's okay,_ Sage thought to himself as he stared absently at the open book in front of him.

Suddenly, the phone rang again. Sage got up once again and picked up the phone. "Hello?" Sage asked.

"Hello? May I ask who I'm speaking to?" a young girl's voice asked, which was unfamiliar to Sage.

"This is Sage Date you're speaking to," Sage replied.

"Are you the one who put up those missing person flyers of a Cassandra Date?" the young girl asked curiously.

"Yeah, I did," Sage admitted. "Did you recognize the composite at all?"

"Yes, I did, Sage. It was me, I'm Cassandra," the young girl revealed. Sage gasped loudly out of shock. He was so surprised by the stranger's response that he nearly dropped the phone.

"Sage? Are you still there?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Sage eventually got out. "I can't believe it. Is it really you, Cassandra?"

"Of course, it's me, Sage," Cassandra replied.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" Sage asked curiously.

"I... I'm not exactly sure," Cassandra reluctantly admitted. "Everything's just a big blur in my mind."

"It could be possible that you might have suffered a case of amnesia," Sage muttered thoughtfully.

"I think you might be right," Cassandra admitted. "I honestly don't remember much about my life as a little girl. The only thing I do remember was playing in a yard with a boy that was a few years older than me. He had thick blonde hair and these light violet-colored eyes that were just like mine... Sage, were you that boy I just described?"

"Yeah, that was me ten years ago," Sage admitted, now certain that he was indeed talking to his sister. "It's so good to hear from you, Cassandra. I was so worried about you, and so were Mom and Dad, of course."

"Yeah, I can only imagine how tough it must have been on you and our parents," Cassandra replied.

"Listen, Cassandra, why don't you come to Toyama and meet us?" Sage asked.

"Umm... I don't know about that," Cassandra nervously admitted.

"Why not?" Sage asked curiously.

"Well, it's just that I don't remember them at all. I don't even know what they look like," Cassandra reluctantly admitted. "I'd prefer it if I could just meet you alone, if that's all right with you."

"That would probably be best," Sage muttered thoughtfully. "Since you're obviously suffering from amnesia, we should take things slow, one day at a time." There was an awkward pause of silence for a few moments.

"So... Sage, where do you think we should meet?" Cassandra asked.

Sage thought about it for a few moments. "How about Toyama City Park? Is that okay with you, Cassandra?" Sage asked.

"That's just fine with me, Sage," Cassandra agreed. "What time?"

"How about tomorrow, at noon?" Sage asked.

"All right," Cassandra replied.

"Okay, great," Sage admitted, trying to hide his excitement. "I'll bring some pictures of our family with me. Maybe they'll help jog your memory."

"That might help me out, Sage, seeing pictures of my family... I mean, our family," Cassandra admitted.

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow, Cassandra," Sage replied.

"Goodbye, Sage," Cassandra replied.

"Goodbye... Cassandra," Sage replied. He waited until Cassandra hung up before he hung up the kitchen phone...

"What a gullible fool!" Devaki remarked with a sinister chuckle as he removed a small black electronic box from the mouthpiece of his black cellular phone. He was standing in front of Dulcea, who was sitting in her throne.

"This electronic voice simulator worked like a charm, Lady Dulcea," Devaki announced as he put away the voice simulator and his cell phone. "Sage of Halo was completely convinced that he was talking to his sister, Cassandra. He had absolutely no idea that he was talking to me."

"Excellent work, Devaki," Dulcea admitted.

"Thank you, Lady Dulcea," Devaki replied. "If you don't mind, I need to speak with your evil Ronin Warriors for a few minutes. It's very important."

"Very well, then. Ronins, come forth!" Dulcea commanded. A few moments later, Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata marched into the throne room, all of them wearing their sub-armor.

"You wish to speak with us, Lady Dulcea?" Wildfire asked as he and the other Ronin clones bowed respectively to Dulcea.

"Devaki has something for all of you," Dulcea revealed.

The five Ronin clones turned around to face Dulcea's servant. "What do you have for us, Devaki?" Strata asked.

"Give me a moment and I'll show you," Devaki replied as he reached inside of his black trenchcoat. He pulled out five chain necklaces from his coat pocket, each one with a small fragment of a Dark Crystal hanging from it.

"What are those?" Torrent asked curiously.

"Each of these chains contain a fragment of a Dark Crystal," Devaki explained as he handed each necklace to Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata. "These special fragments each have the ability to collect a vast amount of concentrated Black Chi. It's important that you return to the ship immediately after any of you collect Black Chi, so it can be stored properly in the Dark Crystals."

"So... how are these things supposed to work?" Halo asked as he examined his necklace.

"You'll soon find out for yourself, Halo," Devaki replied.

A sinister little smirk slowly appeared on Halo's face. "Does this mean I finally get to go after Sage of Halo?" Halo asked, although he already knew the answer.

"The time has indeed come for you, Halo. You will intercept Sage of Halo tomorrow at Toyama City Park," Devaki explained. "He will be arriving there at noon to meet his sister, Cassandra."

"Speaking of which, did you ever find someone to impersonate his sister, Devaki?" Dulcea asked.

"Of course, Lady Dulcea," Devaki replied as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, a strange creature teleported into the throne room, dressed in a flowing blue gray robe. The creature had hairless pale gray skin, a scrawny build, and long pointy ears.

"This creature is called a doppleganger, Lady Dulcea," Devaki explained. "It has the ability to assume the shape and appearance of any human it chooses."

"Is that so, Devaki?" Dulcea asked.

"Why, yes, my lady," Devaki replied. "The doppleganger will be posing as Sage of Halo's sister, Cassandra."

"I would like to see a demonstration of this doppleganger's power first," Dulcea requested.

"Of course, Lady Dulcea." Devaki removed the missing person's poster from his trench coat and held it up in front of the doppleganger.

"I want you to look like this girl here," Devaki ordered the doppleganger, pointing at the composite drawing of Cassandra. The creature nodded silently before it became engulfed in a white light. When the light faded away, the doppleganger had taken on the appearance of the fifteen-year-old girl, while still wearing the blue gray robe.

"That is quite amazing," Dulcea admitted.

"I knew that you would be pleased with the results, Lady Dulcea," Devaki confessed. He turned his attention to Halo.

"There is one other thing that I need to give to you, Halo," Devaki explained as he reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

"Why are you giving me sunglasses?" Halo asked curiously as Devaki handed him the sunglasses. "I have my own, Devaki."

"These sunglasses have been magically induced, Halo," Devaki explained. "They'll allow you to see and hear everything the doppleganger does. Also, you must keep in touch with the doppleganger telepathically. That way, if Sage of Halo asks it any questions, you'll be able to provide it with the answers."

"All right, Devaki," Halo agreed...

"Come on, Kento. Hurry up!" Sage muttered impatiently as he slowly paced back and forth along the side of the street in front of his house. Sage was waiting for Kento to show up in his van to take him to Toyama City Park, where he was going to meet Cassandra. He suddenly heard a door opening from across the street. Sage looked up to see Sandra leave her house and walk down the driveway.

"Hey, Sandra," Sage greeted as he quickly walked across the street.

"Hey, Sage," Sandra greeted as she stopped at a mailbox at the edge of the driveway.

"What are you up to, Sandra?" Sage asked curiously as Sandra opened the mailbox and pulled out a bunch of envelopes, along with a couple of magazines and catalogs.

"Just checking the mail for now," Sandra replied as she looked through the small pile of envelopes. "You sound happy 'bout something, Sage. What's going on?"

"Don't worry, Sandra. You'll find out about it as soon as I come back from the park," Sage revealed.

Just then, Sage and Sandra heard a horn honk from behind them. They turned around and saw a familiar gold van on the road. "Come on, Sage. Let's roll!" Kento announced as he stuck his head out of the open driver's window.

"Okay, I'm coming," Sage replied as he opened the passenger's door and got into the van. "See you later, Sandra."

"Bye, Sage. Bye, Kento," Sandra shouted as the van made a U-turn and headed down the street toward the main road. She walked back up the driveway and inside her house. Sandra walked into the kitchen, where her mother was waiting for her. Mrs. O'Brien had the same flaming red hair as her daughter, which accentuated her bright brown eyes.

"So, what did we get in the mail today, Sandra?" Mrs. O'Brien asked in a thick Irish accent.

"Looks like a bunch of bills, Mom," Sandra replied as she handed the small pile to her mother.

"Thank you much, dear," Mrs. O'Brien replied as she started looking through the mail. Sandra was about to leave the kitchen when her mother shouted, "Wait a minute, Sandra!"

"What is it, Mom?" Sandra asked curiously as she turned around.

"You got a letter, Sandra," Mrs. O'Brien revealed as she handed an envelope to her daughter.

Sandra glanced at the return address on the envelope and a big smile spread on her face. "It's from Lindsay!" Sandra announced. "I can't believe I missed this. I'm gonna read this upstairs in me room, Mom. See ya later."

"See ya later, Sandra," Mrs. O'Brien replied.

Sandra left the kitchen and quickly ran upstairs to her room. She turned on the light, plopped onto her bed, and was about to tear open the envelope when she suddenly felt a sharp jolt of pain in her head. Sandra dropped the letter and held her head in her hands as the excruciating pain continued.

To Sandra's surprise, she saw several images in her mind. The first image she saw was of Sage, who was walking in the park with a young teenage girl with long black hair and violet-gray eyes that matched Sage's eyes. The next image showed Sage and the young girl being attacked by Halo in his sub- armor. The last image Sandra saw in her mind was of Halo, who appeared to be removing a strange dark purple energy from Sage's body. When the images finally stopped, so did Sandra's throbbing headache. Sandra took in several deep gasps of air as she slowly brought her hands down.

"What just happened here?" Sandra slowly asked herself. "What I just went through, it must be one of those visions that Kim told us 'bout." Sandra suddenly gasped when she realized something else. "If what I saw was right, then Sage is gonna be walking right into Halo's trap! I gotta stop him before it's too late!" Sandra quickly jumped off of her bed, ran down the stairs, and opened a closet near the front door.

"Where are you going, Sandra?" Mrs. O'Brien asked.

"Umm... I just remembered, I'm supposed to meet Sage in the park to work on a Biology project," Sandra quickly explained as she grabbed a denim jacket and put it on. "I'll be back in a few hours. Gotta go!" With that, Sandra left the house and ran as fast as she could down the road...

"Let's try this one," Sage muttered out loud as he selected a photo from the small box he brought with him to the park. He handed the picture, which was of an elderly Japanese man, to his sister, who was wearing a purple blouse, a black skirt, and black boots. When Sage first saw Cassandra, he was surprised as to how close the composite drawing matched.

Sage watched as Cassandra held up the photo and carefully studied it, as though she was trying to remember who it was. Little did Sage know that she was actually waiting for someone to tell her the answer.

_"That man in the picture is Sage's grandfather,"_ Halo told Cassandra telepathically.

"Is this...our grandfather?" Cassandra asked a bit uncertainly.

"Yes, it is," Sage replied with a small smile.

"How is he, by the way?" Cassandra asked curiously.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Cassandra, but our grandfather passed away seven years ago," Sage reluctantly told her.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Cassandra whispered.

"That's okay, Cassandra," Sage replied as he placed a reassuring hand on his sister's shoulder. "You didn't know. I'll bet that if he was still alive, he would be very happy to know that we finally found you."

"That's good to know," Cassandra admitted.

_"We've toyed with Sage of Halo long enough,"_ Halo told Cassandra telepathically. _"It's time to put our plan into action. You know what to do."_

"Umm... Sage? Would it be all right if we take a little walk?" Cassandra asked.

"Sure, no problem," Sage agreed as the two stood up from the park bench they were sitting on. "Which way do you want to go?"

"How about... that way?" Cassandra suggested, pointing at a path that ran past where they were sitting.

"Sure," Sage agreed. As they started walking down the path, Sage couldn't help but stare at his sister.

_I can't believe that I finally found her after so long, that she's walking right next to me,_ Sage thought to himself. _Mom and Dad are going to be so thrilled when I bring Cassandra home with me. _As the path led Sage and Cassandra toward a small thicket of trees, Sage felt a strange sensation and stopped walking.

_That's strange. I sense something evil nearby,_ Sage thought as he carefully looked around the surrounding area for anything suspicious.

"Sage? Is there something wrong?" Cassandra asked curiously.

Sage looked at Cassandra and replied, "No, it's nothing to worry about, Cassandra. Let's keep going."

"All right," Cassandra agreed.

No sooner had they entered the thicket of trees than Sage and Cassandra were startled by a sinister chuckle that broke the eerie silence. "Halo," Sage muttered, who recognized the voice.

"What's going on, Sage?" Cassandra asked.

"Just stay here, Cassandra," Sage instructed his sister as he slowly walked forward a few steps. He narrowed his eyes and stared up at the high tree branches looming overhead. "I have to be very careful," Sage muttered to himself as he continued scanning through the branches. "With Halo's armor being green and dark gray, he can easily blend into the shadows above me." Sage slowly turned around toward his sister and started to check the tree branches above her.

With his back turned, Sage didn't see Halo silently drop down from a nearby tree, wearing his green and dark gray sub-armor. Halo slowly crept up behind Sage with his arms raised and struck Sage in the back. Stunned by the unexpected blow to the back, Sage fell face first to the ground.

"It's good to see you again, Sage of Halo," Halo retorted sarcastically with a sinister laugh.

Sage slowly lifted his head and looked up at his sister. "Cassandra, get outta here now!" Sage shouted. Cassandra just stood there and stared blankly at Sage. At that very moment, Sage realized the truth. "You're not Cassandra!" he gasped.

"Congratulations, Sage of Halo! You finally figured it out!" Halo congratulated Sage mockingly.

"This whole thing was a trap," Sage whispered out loud.

"You're two for two! Nice job! As much as I'm enjoying this, I do have my orders to follow," Halo remarked as he held up the chain that was hanging from his neck.

The Dark Crystal fragment started to glow with an eerie dark purple light, and Sage screamed out of pain as bolts of black energy waves left his body and became absorbed into the Dark Crystal fragment...

"Sage! Where are you, Sage?" Sandra called out as she ran through the park. Sandra looked around, but could find no sign of Sage or the young black-haired girl she saw in her vision. She stopped running for a minute to catch her breath.

Suddenly, Sandra heard a pain-filled yell in the distance. "That's Sage. I just know it," Sandra told herself as she ran in the direction of the yell.

She eventually reached a small hill, which had a small thicket of trees clustered on top. Sandra looked up and gasped when she saw a strange dark purple glow coming from the group of trees.

"Oh, no! I just hope that I'm not too late!" Sandra whispered to herself as she quickly ran up the hill toward the trees…

Meanwhile, inside the small cluster of trees, Halo was still using the Dark Crystal fragment on Sage, which was quickly sucking up Sage's excess Black Chi like a vacuum. The doppleganger, still disguised as Cassandra Date, silently watched what was going on with great interest.

"It won't be much longer," Halo muttered to himself.

"THUNDER STRIKE!"

Halo was surprised when a ball of green electricity struck him in the back. He turned around and sneered a bit when he saw Sandra with a second ball of green electricity in her hand.

"You better back off now, Halo!" Sandra warned him. "I got another one right here with your name on it!"

Halo let out a sinister chuckle. "I'd like to see you try and stop me, kokoro." Halo turned his head toward the black-haired girl. "Take care of that pest for me."

The girl silently nodded as she ran up to Sandra and swung a fist at her. Sandra quickly ducked out of the way of the girl's first swing, which was soon followed by a second swing that also missed its intended target.

"Hate to do this to ya, but you're pushing me too far!" Sandra warned the girl as she jumped out of the way. "THUNDER STRIKE!" The ball of electricity left Sandra's hand and struck the girl in the stomach, causing her to fall to the ground.

"What the...?" Sandra gasped. The girl had unexpectedly changed into a hideous thin creature with pointed ears and pale gray skin.

"You're so useless!" Halo shouted angrily at the strange creature. "Get out of here! I'll take care of this." The pale creature nodded as it teleported away.

"Remember what I told you would happen the next time we meet?" Halo asked sinisterly as he glared at Sandra. The redhead Irish girl didn't say a word as she glared back at him.

"I'll take that as a yes," Hallo retorted coldly. "Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"

Once he finished transforming into his full green and dark gray armor, Halo charged straight at Sandra. Before Sandra could even brace herself, Halo had grabbed her by the neck and held her back against a tree.

"Sage, you have to get up!" Sandra shouted to Sage, who was still lying on the ground. "I need your help!"

"Don't expect any help from that weakling," Halo muttered sinisterly. "No one can save you now!" He chuckled evilly as he tightened his grip around Sandra's neck.

To Halo's surprise, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and pull him away from Sandra, who slumped down to the ground. Halo turned his head and growled angrily when he saw Sage, wearing his green and white sub-armor, with an enraged look burning in his eyes.

"There's no way I'm gonna let you kill Sandra!" Sage shouted angrily. "You'll have to kill me first!"

"That can be arranged!" Halo shouted. He quickly broke out of Sage's grip, withdrew his battle sword, and quickly spun around to strike the Ronin Warrior with his sword.

Sage reacted quickly by jumping high in the air. "Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!" As soon as he landed back on the ground, Sage withdrew his own sword.

"Sage, don't! You're too weak to fight!" Sandra pleaded.

"I have to, Sandra," Sage told her. "This time, it's personal."

"Then bring it on!" Halo taunted. Sage growled angrily as he charged at Halo and swung his sword at him. Halo blocked Sage's sword with his own and managed to knock Sage to the ground.

"Time to die, Ronin!" Halo shouted as he lifted his sword above his head. "THUNDER BOLT-"

Before he could finish his attack, Halo heard a familiar voice shout in his head, _"Halo, stop!"_

_"What is it, Lady Dulcea?"_ Halo asked telepathically, a bit annoyed by the sudden interruption.

_"I need you to come back to the ship, now!"_ Dulcea ordered.

_"Please, Lady Dulcea, just give me some more time,"_ Halo pleaded telepathically. _"I'm so close to getting rid of Sage of Halo and the kokoro of spirit permanently."_

_"This is more important, Halo,"_ Dulcea stated coldly. _"Get back to the ship now, or I'll have your head!"_

_"Right away, Lady Dulcea,"_ Halo reluctantly agreed. He turned toward Sage and Sandra and glared evilly at them as he placed his sword back in its sheath.

"Looks like you two lucked out this time, but eventually, your luck will soon run out!" With that, Halo teleported away.

Sage managed to get up on his knees by using his sword as support. "Sandra, are you okay?" he asked as he put away his sword.

"Yeah, I think so," Sandra replied. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm good," Sage lied. Suddenly, Sage fell face first to the ground out of exhaustion.

"Sage!" Sandra shouted as she quickly ran to his side. Sandra managed to get Sage up in a sitting position and laid his back against a nearby tree.

"Hold on! I'll be right back!" With that, Sandra got up and ran as fast as she could...

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Crystal room, Devaki was pacing back and forth, waiting impatiently for the arrival of Halo. Just then, Halo entered the Dark Crystal room, now back in his sub-armor.

"It's about time, Halo," Devaki muttered out loud. "Quickly, give me the necklace."

Halo took off the chain necklace and placed it in Devaki's slimy hand. Devaki took out a small black device from his trench coat with his free hand and inserted the Dark Crystal fragment in a slot on top of the box. He pressed a button and instantly, the Dark Crystal fragment glowed deep violet. Suddenly, the tiny fragment released a tremendous amount of black energy waves, which were soon absorbed by some of the surrounding Dark Crystals in the room.

"Excellent!" Devaki admitted gleefully.

"So, how much Black Chi did Halo collect, Devaki?" Dulcea asked. Devaki and Halo turned around to see Dulcea standing in the doorway.

"He collected quite a bit, Lady Dulcea," Devaki admitted. "As you can see for yourself, he has collected enough Black Chi to completely fill four Dark Crystals. At this rate, we'll have plenty of Black Chi necessary to take over this world far ahead of schedule."

"That's good to hear, Devaki," Dulcea muttered out loud. "These results are very promising. Devaki, start picking out more victims."

"Right away, Lady Dulcea," Devaki replied as he and Halo left Dulcea alone in the Dark Crystal room...

"Here you are, Sage. Drink up," Sandra announced as she handed Sage a bottle of water.

"Thanks, Sandra," Sage replied, who was back in his regular clothes. He twisted off the cap and quickly drank the contents of the bottle without even stopping to take a breath.

"How are you feeling now?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Much better now, Sandra," Sage admitted. "Thanks a lot for helping me out."

"No problem, Sage. You would have done the same for me," Sandra replied.

"How did you know that I was in trouble?" Sage asked curiously.

"I had one of them visions," Sandra explained, "like that one Kim had over two weeks ago."

"Oh, yeah. Kento and Cye told us about that," Sage muttered out loud.

"Sage, why did you come here in the first place?" Sandra asked curiously.

"I thought I was coming out here to meet my sister, but it turned out to be a trap," Sage muttered a bit angrily.

"Sister? What sister?" Sandra asked, a bit surprised to hear this news.

"My sister, Cassandra Date," Sage explained. "Over ten years ago, when my family and I were still living in California, Cassandra was kidnapped from our own backyard. She was taken right in front of me, and there was noting I could do to stop him!"

"You've been blaming yourself for this ever since, haven't you?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, I have been blaming myself," Sage admitted.

"All that guilt must have made a lot of that Black Chi you told me about," Sandra muttered thoughtfully.

"That must be why they targeted me," Sage realized. "This is all my fault!"

"Sage, you gotta stop blaming yourself!" Sandra told Sage as he buried his face in his hands.

"You're starting to sound like my mom," Sage remarked rudely.

"Sage, all I know is if you keep this up, this Black Chi is gonna get even stronger and completely take over you. I don't want to see that happen to you," Sandra revealed.

Sage slowly brought his hands down and looked at Sandra. "You really mean that?" he asked.

"Of course, I do, Sage," Sandra replied. "Just remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm right across the street from you."

"Thanks, Sandra," Sage admitted with a small smile. He quickly glanced at his watch and noticed that it was 2:15 PM. "Sandra, are you hungry?" Sage asked.

"Come to think of it, I am kinda hungry," Sandra admitted as they stood up. "I didn't have anything to eat earlier, and fighting your evil clone does work up an appetite!"

Sage chuckled a bit as they started following the path out of the cluster of trees. "How about we go out for pizza? My treat," Sage offered.

"That sounds good to me," Sandra admitted.

"And maybe afterwards, we can go see a movie," Sage suggested.

"Don't push your luck with me, Sage," Sandra warned him as they left the park together...TO BE CONTINUED


	9. Wildfire's Weakness

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 9-Wildfire's Weakness

"Nice job at practice, Sandra," Ryo admitted as he, Sandra, and Rita left Han'a High School.

"Thanks, Ryo," Sandra replied as she spun a soccer ball around on her finger. "You weren't so bad yourself, ya know."

"Do the soccer coaches normally do that? Do they always have a match between the boys' and girls' teams?" Rita asked curiously.

"Not always, Rita. Coach Zettler and Coach Zettler only do it once in a while to make practice a little more interesting," Ryo explained.

"Wait a minute. Both of the coaches are named Zettler?" Rita asked.

"Of course they have the same name. They're married," Sandra revealed.

"Really?" Rita asked.

"They sure are, Rita. Every year, Mr. and Mrs. Zettler always tell us the same old story about how they met in high school when they played on their school's soccer team," Ryo remarked.

"That sounds very romantic," Rita admitted as they continued walking down the main road.

"Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I can't wait 'til our first game next Monday!" Sandra admitted. "We are totally gonna dominate! Right, Ryo?" Ryo nodded his head in approval.

"What school are you playing against?" Rita asked curiously.

"I think it's called... Tacoma High," Sandra replied unsurely.

Ryo chuckled a little bit. "It's called Tokaoka High, Sandra."

"Sorry, but I don't know how to pronounce all these Japanese names," Sandra revealed as they reached the first street corner. "Here's me stop. See ya tomorrow!"

"Good night, Sandra!" Rita shouted as the redhead girl headed down the street to her house.

"We better get going, Rita. It's starting to get dark," Ryo pointed out.

"All right, then. Let's go," Rita replied. The two friends walked down the main road in silence for a few minutes.

"Umm... Rita?" Ryo asked a bit hesitantly.

"Yes, Ryo?" Rita asked.

"I was kinda wondering, are you doing anything tomorrow?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Actually, yes. I need to do some yard work for my grandfather," Rita replied. "It'll probably take me all day to get everything done."

"What about your grandfather? Isn't he going to help you?" Ryo asked curiously.

"My grandfather's not as strong as he used to be, Ryo. He has a bad back, so he can't do any heavy lifting," Rita revealed. "My grandfather also plans on visiting an old friend of his tomorrow in Okaya."

"Well, if you want, Rita, I can come by tomorrow and help you out," Ryo offered.

"That's nice of you, Ryo," Rita admitted with a small smile. "I'll have to ask my grandfather first, so I'll call you later tonight and let you know, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Ryo replied.

"Good night, Ryo," Rita replied before she headed down the street leading to her house.

"Good night, Rita," Ryo replied before he continued heading down the road to his house...

Meanwhile, up in Dulcea's mysterious spaceship, Wildfire was standing by himself in the Dark Crystal room. His sinister red eyes were fixed on the five Dark Crystals that were fully charged with Black Chi energy.

"What's the matter, Wildfire? Are you jealous?" a familiar voice asked.

Wildfire turned around and saw Devaki standing in the doorway. "Jealous of what, Devaki?" Wildfire asked suspiciously with his eyes narrowed.

"I saw you staring at the Dark Crystals that Halo charged up with the Black Chi he has stolen from Sage of Halo," Devaki confessed. "Are you envious of his success, Wildfire?"

"I am jealous of no one, Devaki," Wildfire muttered sternly as he crossed his arms.

"Then what are you doing here?" Devaki asked.

"I was looking for you," Wildfire revealed. "I have a plan that will harness a great deal of concentrated Black Chi from Ryo of Wildfire, but in order for my plan to succeed, I'll need to borrow something from you."

"And what do you need from me, pray tell?" Devaki asked curiously.

"I need to use the necrophidius," Wildfire announced.

"My necrophidius? What for?" Devaki asked.

"Ryo of Wildfire has a great weakness that we can use to our advantage," Wildfire explained. "He tends to get incredibly angry whenever one of his friends is injured or is in some sort of danger. I've seen it for myself in our previous battles."

"And how do you plan on using my necrophidius, Wildfire?" Devaki asked curiously.

"My plan is to allow the necrophidius to attack someone that Ryo truly cares about," Wildfire explained. "When Ryo finds out that his friend will not recover from the necrophidius' bite, he will become extremely furious, which will build up a great deal of concentrated Black Chi within him."

"This plan of yours sounds very promising," Devaki admitted. "Come with me, Wildfire." Devaki turned around and hobbled down the dark hallway, followed by Wildfire. "Tell me, do you have someone in mind to target with my necrophidius?" Devaki asked curiously.

"Indeed, I do. I plan to use the necrophidius on Ryo of Wildfire's pet tiger," Wildfire revealed as they entered a dark room that looked much like a mad scientist's laboratory. "Ryo of Wildfire seems to care a great deal for that beast."

"Perhaps you are right, Wildfire," Devaki admitted as he reached for a large box on a shelf that had holes cut through the lid.

"I'm trusting you to be very careful with my necrophidius, Wildfire," Devaki announced as he held out the box to Wildfire. "The necrophidius is a very rare creature from a distant planet in another galaxy. It's taken me several years to find this specimen. I won't be able to find another."

"There's no need to worry your head over it, Devaki. I'll be careful with it," Wildfire assured Devaki as he took the box from him.

"You'll also need to take this with you," Devaki added as he handed a small vial holding a dark red-orange liquid, which was attached to a gold chain, to Wildfire.

"What is this?" Wildfire asked curiously.

"This is an anti-venom that I developed," Devaki explained. "As you know, the necrophidius, which is more commonly known as the death worm, has a very lethal bite that can kill almost instantly. If necessary, you can use this antidote as a bargaining chip in your favor, Wildfire."

Wildfire held up the vial and stared at the fluid contained within it. "Thank you, Devaki. This will definitely help me out," Wildfire admitted sinisterly.

"You better not fail in your task, Wildfire," Devaki warned him.

"Don't worry, Devaki. I won't," Wildfire stated coldly as he left Devaki's lab with the box and the anti-venom...

"Okay, it's ten o'clock now," Ryo muttered to himself as he checked his watch. "It's now or never."

Ryo looked up and started walking down the driveway leading to Rita's house. He followed the path leading from the driveway to the front door. As soon as he reached the front door, Ryo pressed the doorbell with his finger.

"Hold on a minute! I'll be right there!" Ryo heard Rita shout from inside the house. A few moments later, Rita opened the front door. She was dressed in a red T-shirt, black stretch pants, red socks, and black sneakers.

"You're right on time, Ryo. Why don't you come in?" Rita asked.

"Sure. Thanks, Rita," Ryo replied as he entered the house. As the two walked into the living room, they saw Rita's grandfather sitting on the couch, tying his shoes on.

"Grandpa, Ryo's here," Rita announced. "You remember him, don't you?"

"Of course, I do. Good morning, Ryo," Mr. Niitsu greeted as he stood up from the couch and grabbed his jacket.

"Hey, Mr. Niitsu," Ryo greeted.

"I would stay and supervise you two, but a good friend of mine has recently come out of the hospital and I promised to come visit him," Mr. Niitsu revealed.

"There's no need for that, Grandpa," Rita admitted.

"Fine, then," Mr. Niitsu replied as he put on his jacket and looked up at Ryo. "Now listen carefully, Ryo. Rita will explain to you everything that needs to be done," Mr. Niitsu explained. "Also, I don't want to find out that you've been making moves on my granddaughter while I was gone."

"Grandpa!" Rita complained as her face became flustered. "Ryo's not like that!"

"I was just joking, Rita," Mr. Niitsu confessed as he headed to the front door. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Grandpa! See you later!" Rita shouted as she waved to her grandfather. Mr. Niitsu waved back to her before he got into his car and pulled out of the driveway.

"We should get started now, Ryo," Rita suggested as she tied her long black hair up in a ponytail.

"All right, Rita. What do we do first?" Ryo asked.

"I'll show you. Follow me," Rita instructed as she led Ryo out of the house. After closing the door behind them, Rita walked towards a small shed next to the house, followed by Ryo. She opened the door to the shed, walked inside, and pushed out a small gas-powered lawnmower. Rita went back in the shed and came back out with two pairs of work gloves.

"Here, Ryo, put these on. They should fit you," Rita instructed as she handed a pair of work gloves to Ryo.

"Thanks, Rita," Ryo replied. As Ryo put on his work gloves, Rita, who had already put hers on, brought out two rakes and a box of black garbage bags from the shed.

"Huh?" Ryo gasped as he turned around and stared suspiciously at some large bushes bordering the front yard.

"What is it, Ryo? What's wrong?" Rita asked curiously when she noticed Ryo staring at the bushes.

"I heard something moving from those bushes," Ryo whispered as he kept his eyes on the bushes. Both Ryo and Rita gasped when they suddenly heard a twig snap.

"Stay here," Ryo instructed Rita as he slowly walked over to the bushes.

"Be careful, Ryo," Rita whispered with concern as she watched Ryo cautiously approach the bushes. Ryo stopped walking when he saw something big moving behind the bushes.

"Come out and show yourself!" Ryo shouted as he stood ready to face whatever was hiding behind the bushes. He was surprised to hear a familiar growl as a large white tiger passed through the bushes.

"White Blaze!" Ryo exclaimed out of surprise as he brought down his fists.

"Phew! That's a relief!" Rita admitted as she let out a big sigh of relief.

"He must have followed me here," Ryo told Rita before he looked back at his pet tiger. "White Blaze, I told you to stay home," Ryo scolded White Blaze. "Now, go back!" White Blaze roared a bit as he shook his head in protest.

"Come on, White Blaze!" Ryo muttered a bit impatiently.

"Ryo, you don't need to send White Blaze home," Rita announced as she approached Ryo and White Blaze. "I don't mind if he stays here with us. I'm sure White Blaze won't get in the way of our work."

"Well...okay," Ryo reluctantly agreed. White Blaze purred loudly as he rubbed his head against Rita's legs. Rita giggled a bit as she knelt down and petted White Blaze on the head.

_I'm glad that those two get along so well,_ Ryo thought to himself. _Rita's the first girl I ever met that didn't run away screaming when she first saw White Blaze!_ Ryo chuckled softly to himself.

"What's so funny, Ryo?" Rita asked curiously as she stood up.

"It's nothing, Rita," Ryo replied. "So, what do we need to do?"

"First, we have to mow both the front and back lawn," Rita explained. "After that, we have to rake up all the clippings, bag them in the garbage bags, and put them next to the shed for now. The garbage trucks don't come by until Monday, so I'll take care of those bags tomorrow night."

"Okay, if you say so," Ryo replied as he approached the lawnmower that Rita brought out of the shed. He pulled the handle out, which instantly brought the engine roaring to life...

"I can't believe that we're almost done," Rita admitted as she raked the remaining grass clippings into a pile.

"Yeah. Three hours went by really fast," Ryo added as he shoved one last handful of grass clippings in the garbage bag he was holding. He packed the grass clippings down in the bag with his hands until he couldn't push them down any further.

"I think we have room in here for that last pile, Rita," Ryo announced.

"That's good. Bring the bag over here, Ryo," Rita instructed as she laid the rake down on the ground.

"You got it," Ryo replied as he picked up the garbage bag and carried it over to where Rita was standing.

As Ryo and Rita picked up the grass clippings and shoved them into the bag, Rita confessed, "Thanks again, Ryo, for helping me out today."

"No problem, Rita," Ryo replied. "It wasn't like I had any plans today."

"That's a bit of a surprise," Rita admitted. "You're usually doing something with one of your friends during the weekend."

"I am doing something with one of my friends right now," Ryo pointed out.

"You know what I mean, Ryo," Rita remarked with a quick laugh. "You could be hanging out with Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen instead of helping me do yard work."

"Well, first of all, the guys all have plans this weekend," Ryo explained. "Sage has to help his father teach classes at the dojo, Cye already made plans with Clara, Kento's cramming for a Spanish test on Monday, and Rowen's finishing up his Criminal Justice project. And second, I'd rather be doing yard work with you any day." Rita felt her face growing hot with embarrassment as she stared down at the ground.

"What are you embarrassed about, Rita? I'm just telling you the truth. I like being around you," Ryo confessed openly.

"Thanks, Ryo," Rita whispered as she looked back up at Ryo.

For a moment, Ryo found himself staring into Rita's bright brown eyes, but he soon shook it off. "We should get back to work," Ryo mumbled out loud.

"Yeah, we should," Rita reluctantly agreed. The two continued picking up the grass clippings in complete silence for a few minutes.

"Rita, can I ask you something?" Ryo asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, Ryo?" Rita asked curiously.

"Do you, umm...have any plans tomorrow?" Ryo asked a bit hesitantly.

"Other than putting out the garbage tomorrow night...no, I don't," Rita replied.

"Do you think that maybe, if you're interested, you and I could go see a movie or something?" Ryo asked.

Rita sat there in complete silence for a few moments, which made Ryo feel a bit nervous. "Ryo, are you asking me out on a date?" Rita asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Ryo found himself at a loss of words as he once again looked into Rita's eyes, as though he was searching for the answer to her question in them. Before he could say anything, Ryo and Rita were startled when White Blaze suddenly ran past them, knocking the open bag of grass clippings over. Ryo and Rita quickly covered their heads with their arms as some of the grass clippings rained on top of them.

"White Blaze!" Ryo shouted angrily as he turned around to see what caused his pet tiger to act like that. He shook his head in disappointment when he saw the large brown rabbit in the yard, which was practically taunting White Blaze to chase it.

"Rita, are you okay?" Ryo asked, turning his attention back to Rita.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Rita replied as she brought down her arms. "What's up with White Blaze?"

"He's just chasing some rabbit," Ryo replied. When he looked at Rita, Ryo laughed a little bit.

"What's so funny?" Rita asked curiously.

"You got some grass in your hair," Ryo remarked.

"So do you, Ryo," Rita pointed out.

Ryo took off his gloves and patted the top of his head with his bare hand. He could feel the blades of grass poking out through his thick black hair. "Yeah, I guess I do," Ryo admitted. He quickly shook out his hair with his hands, knocking out all the grass that got caught in it.

Rita undid her ponytail and shook her head back and forth, letting her long black hair loose. "Ryo, did I get all of the grass out of my hair?" Rita asked as she bowed her head down slightly.

Ryo looked up and carefully examined Rita's hair. "Looks like you got a few more pieces stuck in your bangs," Ryo revealed.

"I'll get them," Rita replied as she took off her work gloves.

"Don't worry about it, Rita. I'll get them out for you," Ryo insisted.

"Thanks, Ryo," Rita admitted as she kept her head bowed down.

Ryo carefully ran his fingers through Rita's bangs, picking out the blades of grass one by one. He soon found himself running his fingers through Rita's hair and gently sliding his hand down her cheek.

"Ryo, what are you doing?" Rita asked, bringing Ryo back to reality.

"Oh, umm...I'm sorry, Rita," Ryo stuttered as he started to pull his hand away from Rita's face.

To Ryo's surprise, Rita took his hand into her own. She edged closer to Ryo and kissed him square on the lips. Ryo was a bit startled at first, but he soon participated in the kiss.

When Rita pulled away from him, Ryo slowly opened his eyes and asked curiously, "What was that for, Rita?"

"I'm sorry about that, Ryo. It's just. it's just that I've been wanting to do that ever since I met you," Rita reluctantly admitted as her cheeks turned red from embarrassment.

"You don't need to say that, Rita," Ryo replied with a small smile. "Truth is, I feel the same way about you."

"Really? You do?" Rita asked out of surprise. Ryo nodded his head in approval. "Even when I was blind?" Rita prodded.

"Of course," Ryo whispered as he gently slid his hand up the side of Rita's face into her long black hair. "It's like I told you before, Rita: I think you're a beautiful girl, both inside and outside."

Rita giggled slightly as she looked into Ryo's blue eyes. Ryo leaned in closer to Rita and kissed her passionately on the lips. Rita responded by kissing Ryo back and sliding her hands around his neck.

A few yards away from them, White Blaze was lying on the freshly cut grass, his large brown eyes gazing at the couple. Suddenly, White Blaze's ears perked up when he heard some rustling noises from behind the bushes. The massive white tiger let out a loud roar as he quickly got up and turned toward the bushes.

Startled by White Blaze's unexpected roar, Ryo and Rita pulled away from each other and looked up at Ryo's pet tiger. "What is White Blaze doing?" Rita asked curiously.

"He's probably trying to scare that rabbit out of hiding," Ryo suggested.

"I don't know about this, Ryo. Something doesn't feel right," Rita hesitantly revealed.

"I'll check it out," Ryo announced as he stood up and walked over to White Blaze, who was still facing the bushes.

"What is it, White Blaze?" Ryo asked. White Blaze let out a low growl from deep within his throat as he stared at something moving within the bushes.

"What the heck is that?" Ryo asked himself when he saw the strange creature slithering towards him and White Blaze. Its long snake-like body was completely made out of bleached white bones. The creature's head was a bleached human skull with a pair of long fangs and milky white eyes. As the snake-like creature slithered closer to Ryo and White Blaze, it surprisingly made no noise at all.

"Ahh! What is that thing, Ryo?" Rita gasped loudly when she saw the strange creature.

"Rita, stay back!" Ryo warned her. Suddenly, the snake-like creature lunged towards White Blaze, who managed to jump out of the way.

"White Blaze! Whoa!" Ryo shouted when the creature quickly turned around and struck at him. Ryo jumped out of the way of the attacking creature, but when he landed on the ground, his foot slipped on a rock and Ryo fell down on his back.

As Ryo struggled to sit up, he heard Rita shout, "Ryo, look out!"

Ryo looked up and gasped when he saw the snake-like creature a few feet away from him, curled up in an attack position. Without warning, the snake-like creature lunged at Ryo, its long fangs glistening in the sunlight.

"RYO!" Rita shouted loudly.

Knowing that he couldn't do anything to save himself in time, Ryo closed his eyes, soon expecting to feel the creature's fangs penetrating through his flesh. After a few agonizing moments passed and nothing happened, Ryo opened his eyes and gasped loudly at the sight in front of him. Rita was standing in front of him, crying out of pain as the creature's long fangs sank deeper into her arm.

"Rita!" Ryo shouted as he quickly stood up and grabbed the snake-like creature by the head. As carefully and as quickly as he could, Ryo pulled the creature off of Rita's arm and threw it into the woods on the opposite side of the street.

"Ryo, I don't feel so good," Rita whispered a bit weakly as she struggled to stand up. Unfortunately, Rita lost feeling in both of her legs and started to sway.

"I got you, Rita!" Ryo shouted as he caught Rita before she could hit the ground. "Why did you do that?" Ryo asked.

"I had to do it, Ryo. I had to save you," Rita whispered.

"But why?" Ryo prodded, trying to fight back the tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Because I love you, Ryo," Rita whispered as tears started to slowly trickle down her face.

"I love you, too, Rita," Ryo whispered. "I'm not going to lose you, not now, not ever!" Suddenly, an evil snicker broke the silence. "Who's there?" Ryo demanded as he looked around.

"That's a touching little speech you made there, Ryo of Wildfire, but that won't save your kokoro friend!" a familiar voice admitted sinisterly.

"Wildfire!" Ryo gasped loudly. As though on cue, Wildfire, who was wearing his red and dark gray sub-armor, jumped out from behind the bushes and landed a few feet away from Ryo, Rita, and White Blaze. "I should have known it was you, Wildfire!" Ryo muttered angrily. "Only you would do something so twisted."

"Why, thank you for noticing!" Wildfire admitted with a smirk, who had one arm concealed behind his back. "I see that the necrophidius has done its job."

"What are you talking about?" Ryo asked.

"Does this look familiar, Ryo of Wildfire?" Wildfire asked as he held out his hand that was hidden behind his back earlier.

Ryo gasped when he recognized the bony snake-like creature, which was squirming about as it dangled from Wildfire's hand. "That's the same thing that attacked Rita!"

"Of course, it is," Wildfire boasted as he put the necrophidius in a box next to him and covered it with the lid. As soon as Wildfire put on the lid, the box mysteriously vanished without a trace. "The necrophidius has a deadly bite, Ryo of Wildfire. I doubt that your friend will survive," Wildfire continued.

"Why should I believe you, Wildfire?" Ryo asked suspiciously.

"I guess you have a good point there, Ryo of Wildfire," Wildfire admitted. "If you don't believe what you hear from me, then believe what you see with your own eyes!"

Ryo looked down and gasped when he saw that Rita was getting worse. The color had drained from her face and body, and the area around the bite was swelling up and turning black, blue, and green.

"Oh, no! Rita!" Ryo shouted.

"As you can see for yourself, Ryo of Wildfire, the necrophidius' poison is already taking effect," Wildfire explained with a sinister smirk. "If that girl didn't possess the kokoro's spirit, she would already be dead. Now do you believe me, Ryo of Wildfire?"

"Looks like I don't have a choice," Ryo muttered angrily through clenched teeth.

"You do have a chance to save her," Wildfire revealed as he took out a gold chain with a small vial attached to it. "This vial contains the only antidote to the necrophidius' venom. If you want it, you'll have to fight me for it."

"Bring it on!" Ryo shouted.

"Not here, Ryo of Wildfire. We shall battle in Mt. Fuji," Wildfire announced before he teleported away. "I would hurry if I were you!" Wildfire's voice echoed. "At the rate the venom is traveling through that girl's body, she won't live beyond sunset! I'll be waiting for you! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

White Blaze let out a loud roar as he looked up at Ryo. "I know, White Blaze, but I have no choice but to believe that Wildfire's telling the truth about that antidote," Ryo muttered out loud as he looked down at Rita, who was now unconscious as a result of the venom in her body. "I have to get it for Rita, or she'll die. But I can't bring her with me. What I need now is someone to keep an eye on Rita until I get back with the antidote, someone that I can trust. Come on, White Blaze." Ryo gently scooped up the unconscious girl in his arms and carried her to the house, followed by White Blaze...

"You're going to be okay, Rita," Ryo whispered as he wiped the sweat off of Rita's forehead with a damp washcloth. "Just hang in there." Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. Ryo quickly got up, ran to the door, and opened it.

"Thanks for coming so quickly, Cye," Ryo admitted as he let his friend inside.

"No problem, Ryo," Cye replied as he walked over to the couch, where Rita was lying unconscious. He gasped slightly when he saw Rita's condition. Her skin was very pale, almost pale gray in color, the swelling on her arm was getting worse, and her entire body was drenched with sweat.

"What happened to her, Ryo?" Cye asked curiously. "You didn't say much over the phone except that Rita got hurt and Wildfire had something to do with it."

"He sure did, Cye," Ryo muttered angrily. "Wildfire had some creature with him that bit Rita. He said that I have to fight him at Mt. Fuji for the antidote, or Rita's going to die."

"How can you be sure that Wildfire does possess this antidote?" Cye asked.

"What else can I do, Cye?" Ryo asked. "That creature that bit Rita, it's definitely not from this world."

"You do realize that Wildfire is setting up a trap for you, and this so-called antidote is just bait to lure you in," Cye pointed out.

"That's just a risk I'll have to take, Cye," Ryo replied. "There's no way I'm going to let Rita die because of me."

"I know I can't stop you from going after Wildfire, so good luck to you, Ryo, and be careful," Cye warned Ryo. "No telling what dirty tricks he has planned for you."

"You got it, Cye," Ryo replied as he headed for the door, followed by White Blaze. "Take care of Rita for me until I get back with that antidote."

"Don't worry about Rita. She's in good hands," Cye admitted.

Ryo nodded as he and White Blaze left the house. Ryo quickly transformed into his sub-armor and ran down the street, followed by his loyal pet tiger...

"That's right, Ryo of Wildfire. Come right into my trap," Wildfire muttered sinisterly to himself as he paced back and forth inside of Mt. Fuji, wearing his full battle armor. He chuckled evilly to himself as he pulled out his katanas in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

_"Wildfire, has he arrived yet?"_ he heard Dulcea ask telepathically.

_"Not yet, Lady Dulcea, but don't worry. Ryo of Wildfire will show,"_ Wildfire reassured Dulcea telepathically.

_"How can you be so certain that he'll even show up?"_

_"Because Ryo of Wildfire needs this antidote I have to save his kokoro friend. The only way he can get it is through me."_

_"He better show, Wildfire, or you will pay dearly for the failure of your plan,"_ Dulcea warned Wildfire.

_"I won't fail, Lady Dulcea,"_ Wildfire proclaimed.

"Hey, ugly! Up here!" Wildfire heard a familiar voice shout. He looked up at the top of the volcano and smiled evilly when he saw Ryo and White Blaze standing on the rim of Mt. Fuji. "We have some unfinished business to settle!" Ryo shouted as he jumped into the volcano, followed by his pet tiger.

"It's about time you showed up, Ryo of Wildfire!" Wildfire admitted as Ryo and White Blaze landed a few yards away from him.

"You might as well give me that antidote now, Wildfire, 'cause you're gonna lose!" Ryo proclaimed.

"We'll just see about that, Ryo of Wildfire," Wildfire remarked. "Just one little thing, Ryo of Wildfire. If that pet tiger of yours interferes, you can kiss the antidote goodbye! Agreed?"

"Agreed," Ryo replied. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!"

As soon as Ryo finished transforming into his full armor, he withdrew his katanas and charged towards Wildfire. As Ryo swung both of his swords at him, Wildfire quickly held up his own katanas and blocked Ryo's attack. Wildfire then took one of his katanas, while holding back Ryo's swords with the other, and quickly swung it at Ryo.

"Whoa!" Ryo gasped as he instinctively jumped up over Wildfire's katana. When Ryo landed back on the ground, he swung his katanas at Wildfire once again. This time, Ryo succeeded in knocking Wildfire down to the ground. Wildfire used his swords to block Ryo's swords from cutting his neck.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Rita!" Ryo vowed as he pushed down on his katanas.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were angry at me, Ryo of Wildfire," Wildfire remarked nonchalantly.

"You bet I am," Ryo muttered angrily.

"I was counting on that!" Wildfire admitted.

To Ryo's surprise, Wildfire kicked him hard in the stomach, pushing him off of his evil clone. When Ryo stood back up, he saw Wildfire take out a chain necklace with a fragment of a black crystal dangling from it and hold it out towards Ryo, which started to glow with an eerie dark purple light.

Ryo screamed loudly out of pain as bolts of black energy waves left his body and became absorbed into the Dark Crystal fragment. "What's going on?" Ryo asked himself as he struggled to lift up his head. He gasped when he saw the Black Chi energy waves leaving his body, which were being absorbed into Wildfire's Dark Crystal fragment.

_It's like what Sage warned us about. Wildfire intended to get me angry to build up my Black Chi so he could steal it from me. I have to do something to stop him, or Wildfire's going to get away with my Black Chi and the antidote that Rita needs._ Ryo's thoughts went to Rita and his expression became grim.

_I have to fight this, for Rita!_ Ryo thought to himself as he started to slowly stand up.

"What's this?" Wildfire asked when he saw Ryo slowly getting up. "That can't be! Ryo of Wildfire shouldn't be able to get up at all!" Wildfire looked down at his Dark Crystal fragment and gasped when the crystal suddenly stopped glowing.

"What's wrong with this stupid thing?" Wildfire asked as he tapped the crystal repeatedly with his finger. He looked up at Ryo, who was now standing up and withdrawing his katanas.

"So, you managed to channel your anger, Ryo of Wildfire!" Wildfire realized.

"Yeah, that's right, ugly!" Ryo admitted as he joined his katanas together. "You're going down, Wildfire! FLARE UP NOW!"

Wildfire quickly held up his swords in an attempt to block the blast of white light heading towards him. Unfortunately, for him, Ryo's powerful attack collided with him hard, causing Wildfire to drop his katanas. The powerful blast of white energy knocked Wildfire against the inner wall of Mt. Fuji, leaving a large indentation in the rock wall. When the white energy eventually faded away, Wildfire slid down the wall and landed on the ground in an exhausted pile.

"You lost this battle, Wildfire!" Ryo announced as he cautiously approached his evil clone. "Hand over that antidote now!"

Wildfire narrowed his sinister red eyes at Ryo as he pulled out the small vial by its the gold chain. "If you want it so badly, Ryo of Wildfire, then go catch it!" Wildfire shouted as he threw the vial high over Ryo's head.

"NO!" Ryo shouted as he ran after the vial, which was plummeting into the lava pit. Before the vial could land into the boiling hot lava, White Blaze jumped across the pool of liquid rock and caught the vial by its gold chain in his mouth.

"Nice catch, White Blaze!" Ryo cheered as his pet tiger joined him on the rocky ledge with the vial dangling from his mouth.

"Now to take care of..." Ryo started as he turned around to face Wildfire. "What?" Ryo gasped when he saw no one standing behind him. "I could have sworn he was right there," Ryo muttered thoughtfully as he looked around the volcano for any sign of his evil clone. "That coward! Wildfire threw the vial into the lava pool just so he could escape!" White Blaze growled a little bit as he nudged his owner.

"Guess there's nothing we can do about it now," Ryo reluctantly admitted as he put away his katanas. "Come on, White Blaze. We better get back to Rita." White Blaze roared in agreement as he and Ryo made their way out of Mt. Fuji...

"What could be taking him so long?" Dulcea asked a bit impatiently. She was standing in the Dark Crystal room, along with her assistant, Devaki.

"Do not worry, Lady Dulcea," Devaki replied. "Wildfire will come. Just be patient."

At that very moment, Wildfire, who was back in his sub-armor, teleported into the Dark Crystal room. "Sorry about the delay, Lady Dulcea," Wildfire apologized as he handed his necklace over to Devaki. Devaki quickly inserted the Dark Crystal fragment into his small black device and pressed the button, which released the Black Chi that Wildfire collected. The black energy waves were instantly absorbed into four Dark Crystals.

"Excellent job, Wildfire," Dulcea admitted. "You've done very well."

"Thank you, Lady Dulcea," Wildfire replied as he bowed to Dulcea. "I had a chance to get rid of Ryo of Wildfire and the kokoro of fire once and for all, but I failed."

"That's not important at the moment, Wildfire," Dulcea revealed. "Our main concern now is to collect the Black Chi energy we need."

"But what about the Ronin Warriors, Lady Dulcea?" Devaki asked curiously. "They will do anything they can to stop us, along with their kokoro allies."

"Let them try and stop us, Devaki! When I have enough Black Chi to take over this miserable planet, not even the Ronin Warriors and the kokoro will be able to stop me!" Dulcea proclaimed...

"I hope Ryo gets back soon with that antidote," Cye muttered to himself as he wiped the sweat off of Rita's forehead and arms with the washcloth. As Cye rung the sweat from the washcloth into a bowl, he heard a rapid knocking at the door.

"Cye, open up! It's me, Ryo!" Ryo shouted from outside. Cye quickly got up and opened the door, letting Ryo, who was back in his normal clothes, and White Blaze in the house.

"How's Rita doing, Cye?" Ryo asked as he ran over to the couch, where Rita was still lying unconscious.

"Not good, Ryo. I don't know how much longer she'll last," Cye reluctantly revealed. "Did you get the antidote?"

"Right here," Ryo replied as he pulled out the vial and chain from his pocket.

"We better hurry and give it to her," Cye suggested as he knelt down next to the couch and gently lifted Rita's head. Ryo pulled the cork out of the vial and poured some of the dark red-orange liquid into Rita's mouth.

"Let's just hope this works," Cye whispered as he laid Rita's head back down.

The two teenage boys and White Blaze waited patiently with their eyes focused on Rita, hoping to see any sign that the antidote was working. After a couple of minutes passed with no reaction from Rita, Cye reluctantly admitted, "I think we're too late, Ryo. Rita might be dead."

"No!" Ryo whispered sadly as he closed his eyes.

"What?" Cye gasped slightly when he noticed something happening with Rita's arm. "Ryo, look at this! I think the antidote's working!"

Ryo quickly opened his eyes and looked up at Rita's arm. He gasped when he saw that the swelling was steadily shrinking and the unnatural colors were fading away. Ryo and Cye watched as the bite mark on Rita's arm completely disappeared and color returned to her face and body. A few moments later, Rita slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Ryo and Cye.

"Rita! How are you feeling?" Ryo asked curiously.

"All right, I think," Rita whispered as she slowly sat up on the couch. "What are you doing here, Cye?"

"Ryo had to go run a little errand and he asked me to watch you until he came back," Cye replied.

"Don't you remember what happened to you, Rita?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, I do. That weird-looking creature bit me on my arm and…what happened?" Rita asked as she looked at her arm in surprise. "The bite mark, it's gone!"

"Looks like that antidote did more than flush the venom out of your system," Cye pointed out. "It completely healed you."

"I guess that's kind of a good thing. I have no idea how I could have explained that bite mark to my grandfather," Rita admitted.

"Thanks a lot, Cye, for coming here," Ryo told Cye.

"There's no need to thank me, Ryo. I would have helped out in a heartbeat. Excuse me, but I have to be going now. Clara's waiting for me," Cye announced as he stood up.

"This didn't interrupt anything going on between you and Clara, did it?" Rita asked curiously.

"No, not at all. Clara understands why I was going to be late for our date. Besides, dating can wait, especially when one of my friends' lives is on the line," Cye pointed out.

"Goodbye, Cye, and thanks again for your help," Ryo admitted.

"Goodbye, Ryo. Hope you're feeling better soon, Rita," Cye added before he left Rita's house.

"You better go, too, Ryo," Rita reluctantly replied as she stood up from the couch. "If my grandfather comes home and sees that you're still here, he'll make sure that the only time we'll see each other is at school."

"You sure you don't want me to stay for a while, Rita?" Ryo asked curiously as he stood up as well.

"Don't worry about me, Ryo. I'm fine, just a little lightheaded," Rita tried to convince him.

"Well... okay," Ryo hesitantly replied as he started to head for the door, followed by White Blaze.

Before he could open the door, Rita shouted, "Wait, Ryo!"

"What is it, Rita?" Ryo asked as he turned around to face Rita.

"I was wondering... are we still going out tomorrow?" Rita asked curiously.

"Sure, definitely!" Ryo admitted. "That is, if you're still up to it, Rita."

"No question about that, Ryo," Rita replied with a small smile.

"Okay, great. I'll pick you up around eleven. That sound good?" Ryo asked.

"Works for me," Rita admitted.

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow, Rita. Goodbye," Ryo replied.

"Goodbye, Ryo," Rita replied. She stepped up to Ryo and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she headed back inside and closed the door.

"Come on, boy. Let's go home," Ryo told White Blaze. Ryo smiled a bit to himself as he and his pet tiger walked down the driveway...TO BE CONTINUED


	10. The Ronin Who Cried Wolf

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 10-The Ronin Who Cried Wolf

_Out somewhere in a dark creepy forest, a teenage girl was running frantically through the woods blanketed with fog. Her pale pink sundress was slightly tattered, her makeup was smeared, and her short curly brown hair was messed up, as though she had narrowly escaped from some sort of an attack. The girl stopped at a massive oak tree and leaned her back against it, taking in several deep breaths of air as she slumped down to the ground in exhaustion. _

Suddenly, a long howl broke the eerie silence. A terrified look spread over the teenage girl's face as she quickly got up and ran as fast as she could through the woods.

"Almost there," the girl gasped when she saw a field in the distance bathed in moonlight. At the end of the field was a small house with a light left on.

"I have to make it to that house before it's too late!" the young girl told herself as she tried desperately to pick up speed. Unfortunately, her foot got caught in a gnarled old tree root and she fell face first to the ground.

As the teenage girl struggled to stand up, she heard another loud howl, only it was much closer this time. She turned her head towards the woods behind her, but there was nothing in sight other than trees and bushes.

When the teenage girl looked back at the field, she gasped loudly when she saw a huge werewolf standing there. The creature's thick brown fur shimmered from the light of the full moon. He was wearing the severely torn remains of a pair of pants and a T-shirt.

"Steve, listen to me!" the girl pleaded as she slowly crawled backwards away from the werewolf. "It's me, Amanda! Please, don't do this!"

The werewolf ignored Amanda's pleas as he moved closer to her, with his mouth wide open and drool dripping from his long sharp teeth.

"No, Steve, don't!" Amanda begged as she continued backing up until her back ran into a tree. Amanda let out a horrified scream as the huge werewolf pounced on top of her with his razor-sharp claws extended...

"EWW! I cannot watch this anymore!" Clara whimpered out of fright as she buried her face into Cye's shoulder.

"It's okay, Clara," Cye whispered reassuringly as he wrapped his arm around Clara's shoulders. "The movie is almost over with, all right?"

Clara nodded her head slightly, her face still buried in Cye's shoulder.

Cye looked to his right at Ryo, Rita, Sage, and Sandra. Rita was holding Ryo's hand tightly as she quickly turned her head away from the movie screen. Sage was slowly slipping his arm behind Sandra's chair, intending on wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't even think about it!" Sandra muttered sternly through clenched teeth.

Surprised that he got caught in the act, Sage quickly moved his arm away.

Cye then looked over to his left, where Rowen, Roxie, Kento, and Kim were sitting. By the looks on their faces, Rowen and Roxie were obviously disgusted by what they were watching.

"Is this thing almost over, Rowen?" Roxie asked.

"I sure hope so. I don't know how much more of this I can stomach," Rowen muttered out loud.

Cye was surprised to see that Kento and Kim were not afraid or revolted by watching the werewolf mutilate the teenage girl. The two friends were munching away on their bags of popcorn as they watched the movie.

"That's gotta hurt!" Kento remarked as the werewolf ripped off one of the girl's arms with his bare teeth.

"Yup, I'll bet it does," Kim muttered out loud before stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth...

"I don't know 'bout the rest of y'all, but I think there ain't nothin' like a good monster movie to get ya in the Halloween spirit," Kim announced.

"No doubt about that, Kim," Kento agreed as he steered the gold van down the highway.

"I don't know how you two can stand to watch that stuff! You didn't even flinch!" Cye remarked.

"We must have a high tolerance for horror movies," Kim suggested.

"Speaking of Halloween, do you guys think you can stop by my house tomorrow a few hours early?" Sage asked. "I need some help decorating the dojo for my Halloween party."

"No problem, Sage. We'll help you out," Cye agreed.

"How did you manage to talk your dad into letting you have a party in the dojo, Sage?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Let me tell you, Ryo, it wasn't easy!" Sage confessed. "Mom helped me out a lot by saying that I'm a responsible young man and I'm smart and reliable enough not to let the party get out of hand."

"Then you shouldn't have invited me and Kim, Sage!" Kento remarked jokingly with a big smirk on his face.

"Kento!" Sage complained.

"He's just messing with ya, Sage! Get a sense of humor, why don't ya?" Kim retorted loudly.

"What time do you want us to come over?" Cye asked.

"Around three o'clock is good," Sage replied. "With all of us working together, it'll only take about two or three hours to get the dojo ready."

"Sounds good to me. You can count me in, Sage," Rowen agreed.

"You can count me in, too," Roxie added.

"We'll all help you out, Sage. Right, everyone?" Ryo asked. Rita, Sandra, Cye, Clara, and Kento all nodded their heads in approval.

"I'll help out, too, but I gotta leave around five," Kim revealed.

"What for?" Kento asked curiously.

"Gotta take my little brother and sisters trick-or-treating tomorrow night," Kim announced.

"But, Kim, you promised that you were going to DJ for my party," Sage complained.

"Keep your shirt on, Don Juan! I'll be there! Look, the curfew for trick-or-treaters tomorrow night is seven and your party starts at eight," Kim explained. "Chill, I'll be there on time."

"Okay, I'm sorry, Kim," Sage apologized.

"Where are we going?" Clara asked as she looked out the window. "Unless you're taking a different route, Kento, I don't think we're heading back home yet."

"We're making a quick stop at a costume store first, Clara," Cye explained. "Sage, Rowen, and I are picking up some costumes that we rented out for tomorrow night."

"So, what are you three going to be?" Roxie asked curiously.

"You'll see soon enough, Roxie. We're at the store now," Rowen revealed as Kento pulled into a parking lot in front of a warehouse. Hanging above the door was a sign that read YOSH'S COSTUME RENTAL.

"This is the place," Sage announced as Kento parked the van. The ten friends got out of the van and entered the store. Inside the store were several long aisles with racks full of a variety of costumes, hats, masks, and other accessories.

"Mr. Yosh?" Sage called out as he walked up the empty counter.

"Hold on a minute! I'll be right there!" a man's voice shouted from a small room located right behind the counter. A few moments later, an elderly man with gray hair, a gray moustache, and glasses came out from the small room and approached the counter. "Oh, hello, Sage," Mr. Yosh greeted. "You and your friends must be here to pick up your costumes."

"Yeah, we are, Mr. Yosh," Sage replied.

"I have them stored in the back room. Just give me a few minutes to get them," Mr. Yosh revealed as he headed back to the small room behind the counter.

"Take your time, Mr. Yosh. We're in no hurry," Rowen admitted.

"Mr. Yosh has an awful lot of costumes," Sandra commented as she looked around the store. "Why does he have so many?"

"Mr. Yosh gets most of his business from renting his costumes to local theater productions and to schools for school plays," Cye replied. "His store is the only costume rental place around here, so his business does pretty good."

"I've got them, boys!" Mr. Yosh announced as he brought out six large packages from the small storage room. Three of the boxes were rectangular, while the other three were round hatboxes. "The boxes are labeled with your names so you know which ones belong to you," Mr. Yosh explained as he placed the boxes on top of the counter.

Sage took the lid off of the rectangular box marked with his name and took out a long piece of green fabric. He held it up in front of him, revealing that the green fabric was actually a tunic decorated with silver trim along the edges and a fancy silver cross embroidered on the front, the back, and on the sleeves.

"Oh, I see. That is the tunic of the Three Musketeers," Clara realized as Sage refolded the tunic and carefully put it back in the box.

"That's right, Clara. The three of us are going as the Three Musketeers," Cye admitted. "Not all of the tunics are green, though. Mine is light blue, and Rowen's tunic for his costume is dark blue."

"Looks like we got everything we need right here," Sage muttered out loud as he looked through his costume box. "We have the tunics, the boots, the pants, the shirts, the gloves, and the hats are in these boxes." Sage took off the lid to the hatbox labeled with his name, revealing a tan wide- brimmed hat with a long white feather tucked into it.

"And to complete the costumes, here are the prop swords that you requested," Mr. Yosh announced as he reached underneath the counter and took out three realistic swords in sheaths with fancy gold-colored handles.

"Thank you, Mr. Yosh," Sage replied. He turned around to face his nine friends. "While we're still here, does anyone need a costume for tomorrow night?"

"No thanks, Sage," Roxie replied.

"I'm all set," Kento replied.

"Same here," Kim added.

"What about you, Ryo?" Rita asked curiously.

Ryo didn't answer right away. "I... don't have a costume yet," Ryo reluctantly admitted as he stared down at the floor.

"You don't have a costume, Ryo?" Sage asked out of surprise. "You're cutting it pretty close!"

"If you wish, you can look around here," Mr. Yosh suggested. "As you can see, I have plenty of costumes. Perhaps you'll find something that you'll like."

"Sounds like a plan," Ryo admitted.

"Do you mind if we leave our costumes here for now, Mr. Yosh?" Cye asked. "We'll get them after we're done looking around."

"No problem, boys. Take your time," Mr. Yosh replied.

"Thanks, Mr. Yosh," Sage replied as he and his friends walked further into the store.

"Man, there are so many costumes here," Ryo muttered out loud as he walked down one of the several aisles of costumes. "It's gonna be hard to pick just one."

"Don't worry, Ryo. We'll help you pick out something to wear for the party," Kento assured Ryo as he, Kim, Rita, Cye, Clara, Sage, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie followed Ryo down the aisle.

Kim stopped when she saw something sparkling in one of the racks. She parted some of the costumes and found an outfit consisting of a black sequined jacket, black pants, a black sequined hat, and a single white sequined glove. "Here's an idea for you, Ryo. How about going as the King of Pop?" Kim suggested as she took the costume off the rack to show it to Ryo.

"King of Pop? You mean Michael Jackson?" Ryo asked as he turned around, along with the others.

"And who else would I be talking about?" Kim retorted. "I recognize this outfit. It's from when Michael Jackson performed 'Billie Jean' live for the first time. And I gotta admit, Ryo, you kinda look like him...for a white boy. I think you can pull it off."

Suddenly, Kento started to burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, Kento?" Cye asked curiously.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I'm trying to picture Ryo wearing something like that!" Kento barely got out in between his laughter.

Ryo could feel his cheeks turning red from embarrassment. "I think I'll pass on that, Kim," Ryo replied.

"Okay, fine," Kim muttered a bit angrily as she put the costume back on the rack. "Knock it off, Kento, or I'll give you something to laugh about!" Kento quickly stopped laughing when he heard Kim's threat.

"What about this, Ryo?" Rita asked as she pulled out a long black cape with a high collar. "How about you go as a vampire? It's one of the classic movie monsters."

"That sounds like a good idea, Rita," Ryo agreed as he looked at the vampire costume that Rita picked out...

"Where is that good-for-nothing Hardrock at?" Wildfire asked Halo, Torrent, and Strata as he entered a dark room, where the other evil Ronin clones were resting.

"Perhaps Hardrock is out doing something boneheaded, which wouldn't surprise me one little bit," Torrent suggested sarcastically.

At that very moment, Hardrock teleported into the dark room. "At least I'm doing something, Torrent, instead of lying around here like a lazy slug!" Hardrock retorted.

"What did you call me?" Torrent asked angrily as he stood up to face Hardrock.

"You heard me!" Hardrock muttered out loud, which only made Torrent even angrier.

"You better chill out, you two, unless you want Dulcea to intervene!" Halo warned Hardrock and Torrent.

"If Dulcea sees you two at each other's throats, she'll know that she can no longer rely on you and destroy you both," Strata added. "I'm sure you two don't want that to happen, do you?" Torrent and Hardrock growled angrily to themselves as they reluctantly backed away from each other.

"If you don't mind me asking, Hardrock, what have you been up to?" Wildfire asked.

"I've been preparing for tomorrow night," Hardrock replied.

"And what's so special about tomorrow night?" Halo asked curiously.

"Tomorrow is the Festival of the Dead, All Hallows Eve, or as it's most commonly known on Earth: Halloween," Hardrock explained.

"I see you've been doing your homework, Hardrock," Strata remarked. "I've heard about this Halloween that you speak of. Way back in this planet's history, Halloween used to be a celebration of the fall harvest and was supposedly the one day where the dead can walk among the living. Nowadays, it's just an excuse for humans of all ages to masquerade about in silly costumes for show. These humans also allow their children to walk along the dark streets on their own, collecting candy and treats from other humans that they don't even know. I honestly don't see the point of that. Humans can be so stupid with their ridiculous traditions."

"What are you planning on doing tomorrow, Hardrock? Are you going to raise the dead?" Torrent asked with a sarcastic laugh. The other Ronin clones, except for Hardrock, snickered at Torrent's remark.

"And if you can pull that off, see if you can bring back the Ronin Warriors' old enemy, Lord Talpa of the Nether World. He would make a powerful ally, that is if you can bring his spirit out of the Land of the Dead!" Halo retorted with a sinister chuckle.

"Very funny," Hardrock muttered angrily under his breath. "I have something more important planned for tomorrow night."

"And what is that, Hardrock?" Torrent asked sarcastically.

"I've discovered that around this time of year, the fears of young children are the strongest when it comes to the supernatural," Hardrock explained. "I plan to tap into the children's fear and gather this dark energy for Lady Dulcea."

"And how do you plan on doing that, Hardrock?" Wildfire asked curiously. "You'll have to scare them pretty badly in order to make their Black Chi more powerful so you can absorb it."

Before Hardrock could answer Wildfire's question, Torrent interrupted by retorting, "That should be easy for Hardrock! With that ugly face, he can frighten even the bravest child!"

"Don't start with me, Torrent!" Hardrock threatened Torrent as he held up his clenched fist in warning.

"Back off, Torrent!" Wildfire warned Torrent.

"Anyway, I plan on using one of these supernatural creatures to frighten the children tomorrow."

"What do you plan on using, Hardrock?" Halo asked.

"The legendary werewolf," Hardrock announced. The other Ronin clones laughed aloud at Hardrock's suggestion.

"You must be joking, Hardrock. Werewolves don't really exist," Strata pointed out.

"I know that, Strata, but I'll take care of that. I recently captured the most vicious wolf I could find up in the mountains," Hardrock revealed. "Devaki has the wolf in his lab right now. He's going to alter the wolf's DNA to make him into a werewolf that I'll be able to control."

"Good luck, Hardrock. You're gonna need it!" Torrent retorted.

"Gee, thanks, Torrent," Hardrock retorted under his breath as he left the dark room...

"There, that should do it," Ryo announced as he unfolded another table. As soon as Ryo finished setting it up, Rita covered the table with a black paper tablecloth.

"Put it over here, Ryo," Cye instructed, pointing at a space next to three more tables, also covered with black tablecloths, that were pushed against the wall.

Ryo nodded as he pushed the table in the empty space. While Ryo, Cye, and Rita were setting up the tables for the party, Sage and Rowen were busy near the entrance of the dojo. Sage was propping a large dark gray coffin against the wall by the entrance, while Rowen was crouched down, plugging in a small black box on the opposite side. Rowen pressed a red button on the box, and instantly, the box projected a narrow blue laser beam across the floor in front of the entrance.

"The motion detector is up and running, Sage," Rowen announced as he looked up at Sage. "We just need to test it out to make sure it's working properly."

Sage looked outside the open entrance and could see Sandra and Clara approaching the dojo. Sandra was carrying a large cardboard box with bowls and platters, while Clara was carrying two paper bags filled with an assortment of snacks.

"Looks like it's about to be taken care of, Rowen," Sage whispered as he quickly crept over to the other side of the entrance, so the two girls wouldn't see him.

"What are you talking about, Sage?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Shh!" Sage whispered as he kept his violet-gray eyes fixed on the entrance.

"Hey, guys! We're back!" Sandra announced as she and Clara entered the dojo, unknowingly passing through the laser beam for the motion detector.

Suddenly, to the girls' surprise, the coffin next to the entrance popped open, and a skeleton jumped out at them, letting out a spooky evil cackle.

"Ahh!" Sandra and Clara screamed out of fright as the skeleton reached for them with its thin bony fingers.

"It definitely works, Rowen!" Sage remarked with a laugh as he stood up. Rowen turned off the motion detector, which caused the fake skeleton to stop screaming and moving.

"Relax, girls. It's just a prop we're using for the party," Sage told Sandra and Clara as he approached the fake skeleton, pushed it back into the coffin, and closed the coffin door.

"Here, Clara. I'll take those bags for you," Cye offered as he and Ryo approached Sage, Rowen, Sandra, and Clara.

"Thanks, Cye," Clara replied as she handed the bags to Cye.

"Ryo, can you hold this for me?" Sandra asked.

"Sure, Sandra," Ryo agreed as Sandra handed him the box.

"Thank you," Sandra replied. She turned around and smacked Sage upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for, Sandra?" Sage asked as he rubbed the side of his head.

"That's for not warning us about that little booby trap you had set for the door!" Sandra shouted angrily.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Sandra!" Sage apologized.

"That's better," Sandra replied.

"Come on, Sandra. Help us set the tables, okay?" Ryo asked.

"All right, I'm coming," Sandra replied as she followed Ryo, Cye, and Clara to the tables.

"Sage, what do you want us to do with this last table?" Cye asked, pointing at a folded table propped against the wall.

"Put that one against the back wall next to the wall socket," Sage instructed. "Kim said she needed a table near a wall socket for her DJ setup."

"I'll take care of it," Ryo announced as he took the unfolded table to the back of the dojo and unfolded it.

"Could someone help me with this, por favor?" Roxie asked as she struggled to carry a large heavy box into the dojo.

"I got it, Roxie," Rowen announced as he took the box from Roxie.

"Muchas gracias, Rowen," Roxie admitted.

"Did you get everything we need from the shed, Roxie?" Sage asked as Rowen carried the box to the center of the dojo and placed it down on the floor.

"I checked over all the items in the box, and it looks like everything you asked for is in there," Roxie replied as she and Sage joined Rowen. "We have the black lights, the strobe lights, artificial cobwebs, latex tarantulas, and artificial dismembered body parts."

"Yuck! Thanks for warning me, Roxie," Rowen remarked as he pulled out a bloody rubber hand from the box.

"Put the fake body parts aside, Rowen. We can use them to decorate the tables before the guests arrive," Sage replied.

"What do you want done with the rest of this stuff?" Rowen asked curiously.

"We can put the cobwebs and tarantulas in the corners and on the walls. And the lights, well...we can hang them from the ceiling," Sage suggested as he looked up at the ceiling. "We're going to need a ladder for that part."

"If you want, I can get you the ladder I saw in the shed when I was getting the decorations," Roxie suggested as she started to head back outside.

"I'll help you with the ladder, Roxie," Rowen announced as he followed Roxie outside.

"Where are Kim and Kento?" Clara asked as she and Cye removed some bags of potato chips and pretzels from the paper bags. "They should have been here by now."

"We're right here, Clara," Kim announced as she and Kento slowly entered the dojo, carrying a large spin table in between them.

"Coming through! Watch your backs!" Kento shouted as they carefully made their way to the back of the dojo.

"All right, Kento. Let it down nice and easy," Kim instructed Kento as they carefully rested the spin table on top of the table.

"Do you need any help, guys?" Cye asked curiously. "Ryo and I are finished setting up the tables."

"Sure, Cye. We need some help getting the speakers and my records out of Kento's van," Kim replied.

"Records? I hope you're joking, Kim. Our parents used to listen to records," Sage remarked.

"My spin table only works with records, Sage," Kim explained. "CDs scratch up too easily. Besides, these ain't them old records that our parents used to listen to way back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth! These records have music that we listen to."

"Okay, if you say so, Kim," Sage replied as Kim left the dojo, followed by Kento, Ryo, and Cye.

A few minutes later, Ryo and Cye came back in the dojo, each carrying a large speaker. They were soon followed by Kento and Kim, who were both carrying a large cardboard box full of records.

"Cye, that speaker you got goes on the left, and Ryo, yours goes on the right," Kim instructed.

"Sure thing, Kim," Ryo replied as he and Cye set up the speakers on either side of the spin table.

Kim set down the box she was carrying on the floor and took out a pair of cables that were resting on top of the records. She took one cable, attached one end into the back of the left speaker, and connected the other end of the cable to the spin table. Kim grabbed the second cable and used it to hook up the right speaker to her spin table.

"That oughta do it," Kim muttered out loud as she stood behind the setup and flipped a switch on the spin table. Instantly, the speakers let out a loud screeching noise. Ryo, Rita, Kento, Cye, Clara, Sage, and Sandra quickly covered their ears to block out the excruciating high-pitched noise.

"Sorry 'bout that," Kim apologized as she flipped the switch again, which turned off the speakers and stopped the high-pitched noise coming from them. "These old speakers always do that when I first turn them on. At least I know I connected them right!"

"Those speakers aren't going to be doing that all night, are they?" Sage asked curiously.

"Chill out, Sage. It only happens when I first turn them on," Kim explained. "When I save up enough money, I'm gonna get new ones. Does anyone have the time?"

"It's four forty-five, Kim," Kento revealed after checking his watch.

"Oh, shit! I gotta go!" Kim announced as she got up and ran to the door. "See y'all later!"

"See ya, Kim!" Kento shouted as he, Sage, Sandra, Ryo, Rita, Cye, and Clara watched Kim leave the dojo...

"Let's see..." Devaki muttered thoughtfully as he picked up a vial containing a clear turquoise liquid. "All I need is a few drops of this."

Devaki took a medicine dropper and filled it with the turquoise liquid. He held out the medicine dropper and gently squeezed it, allowing a few drops of the liquid to fall into a large beaker filled with a thick yellow gel. As soon as the drops landed in the beaker, the gel started to bubble as it changed from yellow to olive green in color.

"Excellent! The mutagen is finished," Devaki admitted proudly. He picked up a syringe from the counter and filled it up with the thick bubbling liquid. Devaki glanced over at a cage on the other side of his laboratory, which held a large chocolate brown wolf that was continually pacing back and forth.

"Now, take it easy," Devaki whispered as he slowly walked over to the cage with the syringe filled with mutagen. "I promise you that this won't hurt... much."

Devaki tried to stick the needle into the wolf's backside, but before he could, the wolf quickly turned around and snapped at his hand with his sharp teeth.

"Stupid beast! He almost bit my hand off!" Devaki muttered angrily. "Hardrock sure picked a lively one!"

"What's taking you so long, Devaki?" Hardrock asked as he entered Devaki's laboratory.

"It's not my fault that this stupid wolf of yours isn't cooperating!" Devaki shouted. "I have an idea. You distract the wolf for me, Hardrock. That'll give me the opportunity to inject this mutagen into his body, which will mutate his body into a werewolf, like you asked for."

"Fine, Devaki," Hardrock hesitantly agreed as he approached the cage. "Come on, you stupid beast! Just try and get me!" Hardrock taunted as he intentionally rattled the steel bars to get the wolf's attention focused on him.

The wolf turned around to face Hardrock and growled angrily from deep within his throat, baring his long white fangs threateningly. Suddenly, the wolf let out a painful howl before he collapsed in the cage.

"What are you trying to do, Devaki? Kill it?" Hardrock asked as he looked up at Devaki, who was removing the empty syringe from the wolf's back.

"Relax, Hardrock. It's just a natural reaction from the mutagen," Devaki assured Hardrock.

"Are you sure this stuff is gonna work, Devaki?" Hardrock asked.

"It will work, Hardrock," Devaki told him. "The mutagen I created has certain components in it that will insure the desired results. This special mutagen contains human DNA, since werewolves have the stature of human beings, growth hormones and steroids to ensure that he develops the necessary muscular build, and a touch of concentrated Black Chi energy. Open the cage and take the wolf out, Hardrock."

"What for?" Hardrock asked curiously.

"When the mutation starts, the wolf's size will increase dramatically. This cage won't be able to hold him once that happens," Devaki explained.

"Fine," Hardrock reluctantly agreed as he opened the cage and dragged the unconscious wolf out of the cage. As soon as Hardrock took the wolf out of his cage, the wolf suddenly expanded in height and build, with his four legs developing into slightly humanoid arms and legs.

"Just one more thing, Hardrock," Devaki announced as he handed Hardrock a large black collar.

"What is this collar for, Devaki?" Hardrock asked.

"This collar has a special transmitter in it in case your new pet gets out of line," Devaki explained as Hardrock attached the collar around the werewolf's neck. "You'll be able to control the creature with this remote control."

As Devaki handed the small black remote control to Hardrock, the newly mutated wolf growled weakly as he slowly opened his eyes. "It's coming to!" Devaki gasped as the werewolf slowly stood up on his two feet. The werewolf lifted his head up and growled angrily as his golden yellow eyes glared at Devaki and Hardrock.

"Quickly, Hardrock! Use the remote now!" Devaki shouted when he saw the werewolf crouch down, getting ready to attack them. Hardrock quickly pressed the button on the small remote control just as the werewolf leapt towards them. The werewolf let out a painful wail as he fell to the ground.

"What just happened?" Hardrock asked.

"The transmitter in the collar just gave that mutated wolf a slight electric shock," Devaki explained. "That'll teach that beast who's boss, don't you agree, Hardrock?"

"Definitely," Hardrock admitted with a sinister chuckle as he stared at the werewolf...

"Kento, could you get the door for me?" Mrs. Fuan asked, who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen.

"All right, Mom!" Kento shouted as he got up from the living room couch, turned off the television, and headed to the front door. He opened the door, and standing there was Kim with her brother and sisters.

The twin girls were both dressed as identical witches in black dresses and hats, except for the fact that one of the girls' costumes was decorated with green trim and the other girl's costumes had purple trim. Kim's little brother, Derrick, was wearing a white baseball uniform with thin blue pinstripes and a blue baseball cap.

"Trick or treat!" Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick chorused simultaneously as they held out their bags.

"That all depends. What kind of trick do you three have planned?" Kento asked curiously. Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. "Hey! I'm just kidding!" Kento confessed with a quick chuckle. "Come on in!"

"We're not supposed to go into strangers' houses," the girl in the green- and-black costume pointed out.

"Kento's no stranger. Y'all met him before, remember?" Kim reminded her sister.

"She's right," the other girl in the purple-and-black costume admitted.

"First thing's first. I gotta know, who's who?" Kento asked, pointing at the twin witches. The two girls looked at each other and smirked a little bit.

"I'm Jasmine, and this is Janice," the girl in the purple-and-black costume replied.

"No, you're not! I'm Jasmine and you're Janice!" the girl in the green-and- black costume argued.

"No, I'm Jasmine!" the other girl shouted.

"Kim, help me out here!" Kento pleaded.

"Girls, knock it off!" Kim shouted. The twin girls instantly stopped their arguing. "Okay, let's set the record straight. The one in the green is Jasmine, and the one in the purple is Janice," Kim revealed. "And I'm sure you'll have no problem figuring out which one's Derrick, Kento."

"That's an easy one. How are you doing, buddy?" Kento asked.

"I-I'm okay," Derrick whispered bashfully as he hid behind Kim.

"It's okay, Derrick. You don't have to be scared of Kento," Kim reassured her little brother.

"Kento, what's going on?" Mrs. Fuan asked as she approached the front door.

"Hey, Mom. These are our new neighbors that moved here a couple months ago," Kento explained. "That's Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick Ashe."

"Oh, what adorable costumes!" Mrs. Fuan exclaimed as she looked over the outfits that Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick were wearing. "Would you like to come inside and have some homemade candy apples?"

"Can we, Kim, please?" Janice asked as she and her twin sister looked up at Kim.

"Sure, why not? But we better be quick about it. You guys only have one and a half hours left of trick-or-treating," Kim reminded them.

"Right this way," Mrs. Fuan instructed as she and Kento led Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick inside their house. "Have a seat," Mrs. Fuan insisted as the six of them entered the kitchen. Sitting on the kitchen table was a large platter with a dozen candy apples on it.

"Thanks, Mrs. Fuan," Kim replied as she and her brother and sisters sat down at the table and took a candy apple from the platter, along with Kento.

"Kento, I think you should take it easy with those candy apples. That's your third one tonight!" Mrs. Fuan pointed out.

"Calm down, Mom!" Kento complained as Kim tried to suppress her snickers. "You know you always make too many candy apples for Halloween, and I end up eating the leftover ones anyway."

"I guess you're right, Kento," Mrs. Fuan reluctantly agreed. She turned toward Kim, who was eating her candy apple. "Kim, could I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, I guess. What is it?" Kim asked curiously.

"When you go back home, could you ask your mother to call me when she gets the chance?" Mrs. Fuan asked. "I would like to invite your family over for dinner sometime, and I need to know when would be the best time to do this."

"I'll pass the message on to my ma, Mrs. Fuan," Kim replied.

"Thank you, Kim. Excuse me for a minute," Mrs. Fuan announced as she left the kitchen.

"Your mom's pretty nice, Kento," Kim admitted.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, Kim, are you gonna tell what costume you're wearing for the party or what?" Kento asked curiously.

"Well, what are you wearing, Kento?" Kim asked. "I'll tell if you will."

"That's not fair, Kim! I asked you first!" Kento complained.

"I ain't spilling nothin' about my costume until you tell me what you're going as," Kim remarked.

"Fine, Kim! I'm going as a werewolf," Kento revealed. "Now it's your turn."

"You ever watched 'In Living Color?'" Kim asked.

"You kidding me? I watch that show every night! It's hilarious!" Kento openly confessed. "Why are you asking?"

"You know that character that Damon Wayans plays: Homey D. Clown?" Kim asked. Kento nodded his head in approval. "That's what I'm going as: Homey D. Clown," Kim revealed.

"That sounds pretty cool! I can't wait to see it!" Kento admitted.

"Kim, we're done eating our candy apples," Janice announced as she, Jasmine, and Derrick showed Kim the empty wood sticks in their hands.

"All right, kids. Let's move out," Kim told her brother and twin sisters as the four of them, along with Kento, stood up and threw away the sticks in the garbage can. "Tell your mom thanks for the candy apples, Kento."

"You got it, Kim. I'll see you later at the party," Kento replied as he watched Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick leave the house.

"Come on, pipsqueaks! On to the next house!" Kim announced as she, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick walked down the street together.

A few minutes later, Kim and her brother and sisters saw a little girl and a younger boy walking towards them. The girl had straight brown hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a pink princess costume with a gold-colored crown encrusted with fake colorful jewels. The little boy also had brown hair and brown eyes like his older sister. He was wearing an army-green samurai costume made out of cardboard, with a toy sword tucked into his belt.

"Hey, it's Britney!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Yeah, she's in our Math class," Janice told Kim.

"And that's Grant. He's in some of my classes at school," Derrick confessed.

"Hi, Britney!" Jasmine and Janice exclaimed simultaneously.

"Hi, Jasmine! Hi, Janice!" Britney greeted happily as she and her little brother approached Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick.

"Hi, Grant. That's a cool costume!" Derrick confessed.

"Thanks, Derrick. My mom helped me make it," Grant admitted proudly as he adjusted his matching paper samurai helmet.

"Come on, Grant. We should get going," Britney told her little brother.

"Why do you have to go so soon?" Jasmine asked curiously.

"Well, umm... we saw something back there... in the woods," Britney stuttered nervously.

"What did you see?" Janice asked.

"We saw a real live werewolf!" Grant whispered loudly.

"A werewolf?" Derrick asked a bit nervously. Both Britney and Grant nodded their heads.

"You sure you weren't seeing things?" Kim asked suspiciously.

"No, we really saw it," Britney proclaimed.

"The werewolf wasn't the only weird thing that happened to us," Grant revealed.

"What else happened?" Jasmine and Janice asked simultaneously.

"After the werewolf showed up, this strange black stuff came out of us," Britney explained.

"And there was some strange man in the woods, too. He was wearing a metal suit that was orange and gray," Grant added.

Kim raised an eyebrow when she heard Grant's description of the strange man he saw. She knew who Grant was talking about, but decided not to say anything that would scare the kids.

"Well, we have to go now. It's getting late," Britney announced as she took Grant's hand and dragged him down the street.

"Bye, Derrick! See you at school!" Grant shouted.

"Bye, Grant!" Derrick shouted as he waved to Grant.

"See you later, Britney!" Jasmine and Janice shouted simultaneously as they watched Britney and Grant disappear out of sight.

"Come on. Let's move out," Kim announced.

"Kim, do you think there's really a werewolf out there?" Derrick asked.

"Look, you know as well as I do that werewolves ain't real," Kim assured Derrick.

"But, Kim, Britney and Grant said they saw a werewolf," Janice pointed out.

"Look, your friends probably just ran into some nutcase in a werewolf costume, whose stupid idea of fun is scaring little kids like yourselves on Halloween," Kim replied. "Don't worry 'bout him. If he shows his ugly hide around here, I'll protect you."

Suddenly, the group of four heard some rustling from a cluster of bushes alongside the road.

"W-what was that?" Derrick asked out of fright as he cowered behind Kim.

"It's probably just the wind, Derrick," Kim tried to convince her little brother.

Just then, a large hairy creature with a long bushy tail jumped out from behind the bushes and landed in front of the group.

"AHH!" Janice and Jasmine screamed loudly out of fright as they quickly joined Derrick behind Kim.

"Relax, guys. It's just some bozo in a costume. I'll even prove it to you," Kim boasted as she approached the werewolf. "Listen up, buddy! I don't know what your game is, but you better knock it off or you're gonna regret meeting up with me!"

The werewolf growled in response as he pushed Kim hard, knocking her to the ground.

"Kim! Be careful!" Derrick shouted.

"That does it! Now I'm pissed!" Kim shouted loudly as she quickly got up and punched the werewolf right in the nose. The werewolf whimpered loudly like an injured puppy as he covered his nose with his paws and retreated into the woods.

"That takes care of him. Come on, let's get going before that creep comes back," Kim suggested as she, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick approached the next house.

Meanwhile, unknown to the three of them, the werewolf was still running through the woods. He soon stopped running when he reached a small clearing bathed in moonlight. The werewolf slowly raised his paw and gently touched the tip of his nose, which was starting to bleed and swell up. The werewolf whimpered slightly out of pain as he quickly moved his paw away from his sensitive nose.

"What are you doing back here?" Hardrock asked suspiciously as he stepped out of the surrounding shadows into the moonlight. "Don't tell me you're running away from a bunch of little kids!"

The werewolf growled a little bit as he hung his head down.

"You are such a wuss! It's hard to believe that you were the most vicious wolf that I could find!" Hardrock complained. He took out the small black remote and pressed the button. The werewolf howled loudly out of pain as he received yet another electric shock from his collar.

"That's what you get for wussing out on me!" Hardrock remarked sternly with a sinister smirk. He then noticed the werewolf's swollen and bleeding nose. "What happened to your nose?" Hardrock asked.

The werewolf growled a bit, as though he was trying to talk to Hardrock.

"Some girl punched you? Show me who did this to you," Hardrock requested. The werewolf nodded as he ran back towards the road, followed by Hardrock.

Once they reached the side of the road, the werewolf sniffed around a bit, trying to pick up the scent of the girl who punched him. As soon as he picked up the girl's scent, the werewolf ran down the side of the road, with Hardrock running after him. The werewolf stopped running when he reached a white house.

"Where is this girl that punched you?" Hardrock whispered as soon as he rejoined the werewolf.

The werewolf growled softly as he pointed at the lit front porch of the house. Hardrock looked up and gasped slightly when he recognized the teenage girl with the three kids.

"It's that troublesome kokoro! Did she figure out my plan? Don't worry, we'll take care of her!" Hardrock remarked as he looked at the werewolf with a sinister smirk on his face...

"See ya later, Ma!" Kim shouted before she left her house. She was carrying a large plastic shopping bag, which was holding her costume.

"Kim, please don't go!" Derrick pleaded as he ran out onto the front porch, along with Jasmine and Janice.

"I gotta go to the party, Derrick. I promised my friend, Sage, that I would be the DJ," Kim reminded her little brother. "Besides, my stuff's already there."

"But what about the werewolf, Kim?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, he's still out there," Janice added.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself," Kim assured the three kids. "You saw me take care of that stupid werewolf before. If he even tries to go after me again, I'm gonna give him more of the same, and you can count on that!"

"Okay, Kim. We're sorry," Jasmine apologized, while Janice and Derrick nodded their heads in approval.

"It's all right. I don't blame ya for being worried about me," Kim admitted. "I gotta go now. See ya later tonight, that is if you're still awake by then."

"Bye, Kim!" Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick shouted as they waved goodbye to their older sister. Kim waved back to them as she walked down the road towards Sage's house.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of them, but I'm starting to wondering if that thing I saw earlier was the real deal," Kim muttered thoughtfully to herself. "When I punched that so-called werewolf in the nose, it felt more like I was punching a dog in the snout instead of some jerk in a Halloween mask!"

Kim stopped walking for a moment, thinking over what she had just said, and then shook her head in disbelief. "Nah, it couldn't be! Werewolves ain't real!" Kim told herself as she continued walking. "I wonder if maybe Kento was behind all this. He did fess up to having a werewolf costume. But, then again, there's no way Kento could have changed into his costume so quickly!"

All of a sudden, Kim heard a loud howl coming from the woods in the distance. "Hell, no! There's no way I'm gonna end up like that wussy chick in that monster movie!" Kim retorted under her breath as she slightly quickened her pace...

"That should do it," Rowen announced as he plugged in the last strobe light into the extension cord.

"Thanks a lot, Rowen," Sage admitted as Rowen climbed down the ladder.

"I'll put this ladder away, then I'm going to change into my costume," Rowen told Sage as he folded the ladder, picked it up, and carried it outside of the dojo.

"All right, Rowen," Sage replied as he adjusted the collar of his long- sleeved white shirt. He was also wearing a pair of brown pants and old- fashioned tan leather boots that went up to his knees. Sage's green tunic, along with his prop sword, hat, and long tan leather gloves, were lying in a chair next to the snack table.

Sage turned around and walked towards the snack table, where Cye and Ryo were waiting for him. Cye was wearing clothes identical to Sage, whereas Ryo was wearing a white dress shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

"Ryo, can you pour the apple cider in the punch bowl?" Sage asked.

"Sure thing, Sage," Ryo replied as he opened one of two containers full of apple cider and poured it into the large plastic punch bowl in front of him.

"What's in the thermos, Cye?" Sage asked curiously when he noticed the large black thermos on the table.

"This is a special drink I made just for your party, Sage," Cye revealed as he unscrewed the lid for the thermos.

"What is that stuff?" Ryo asked as he and Sage watched Cye pour a thick red liquid into a small plastic cup.

"I call this a blood elixir, for obvious reasons," Cye explained.

"No kidding, Cye! It does look a lot like blood!" Sage remarked.

"I know it does. Care to give it a taste?" Cye asked as he held out the cup to Sage.

"No way!" Sage refused.

"Do you seriously think I would have people drink real blood, Sage?" Cye asked curiously, trying to suppress his snickers. "I know it looks like blood, but that's the idea, since this is a Halloween party after all. It's just a concentrated cherry-flavored syrup, with some red food dye mixed in for color."

"Okay, I trust you, Cye," Sage admitted as he took the cup from Cye and hesitantly took a small sip of the red liquid.

"So, what do you think, Sage?" Cye asked curiously.

"This actually tastes pretty good!" Sage admitted. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Cye."

"What the hell is going on here?" Kim asked suspiciously as she entered the dojo, followed by Rowen.

"What are you talking about, Kim?" Ryo asked curiously.

"What kind of party are you throwing here, Sage? Is this a secret initiation for the occult?" Kim asked.

Cye chuckled a bit when he realized what Kim was talking about. "Calm down, Kim. Sage is not drinking real blood! It's a cherry syrup I made for the party!"

"Okay, if you say so," Kim replied.

"I'm going to get changed into my costume, guys. I'll be back in a few minutes," Rowen announced as he headed for the men's room.

"Later, Rowen," Kim replied. "Where's everyone else at?"

"Rita, Sandra, Clara, and Roxie are still in the girls' room, getting changed in their costumes," Sage revealed.

"What about Kento?" Kim asked curiously.

"He hasn't arrived yet," Cye replied.

"Well, he better show up soon. I need to talk to him about something," Kim muttered out loud.

Suddenly, the four friends heard the door to the dojo squeaking open. Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kim looked up and gasped when they saw a werewolf's head peering into the dojo, growling and snarling at them.

"Oh, great!" Kim muttered under her breath. To Kim's surprise, the werewolf chuckled loudly in a familiar voice.

"Nice one, Kento!" Cye remarked with a quick laugh as Kento took off his werewolf mask, revealing his grinning face.

"I sure got you guys good!" Kento boasted as he walked into the dojo, carrying the mask in his hand. He was also wearing an orange T-shirt underneath a light tan sports jacket with dark brown sleeves, jeans, sneakers, and a pair of rubber gloves resembling hairy werewolf paws with long claws.

"You didn't scare us, Kento! We were just a little startled, that's all," Sage pointed out.

"Sure you were," Kento retorted under his breath as he laid the rubber werewolf mask on a chair by the door, along with the rubber gloves he took off.

"Hey, Kento? I need to talk to you," Kim announced as she approached Kento.

"Sure, Kim. What about?" Kento asked curiously.

"Outside, Wolf Boy!" Kim muttered out loud as she pushed Kento outside of the dojo.

"Kim, what's the big deal?" Kento asked as Kim closed the dojo door behind them.

"Look, Kento, something very weird has been happening lately, and I need to tell you about it," Kim revealed.

"Well, spill it already, Kim! What's going on?" Kento asked curiously.

"I ran into these two kids earlier when I took the twins and Derrick trick- or-treating," Kim explained. "They said they saw a werewolf, and we also saw that same werewolf ourselves."

"You gotta be kidding, Kim! Werewolves aren't real, you know that. You and those kids probably just saw some joker in a werewolf costume," Kento suggested.

"That's what I thought, Kento, that is until I remembered something that Britney and Grant said," Kim revealed.

"What did they say?" Kento asked curiously.

"Britney said that after the Big Bad Wolf scared her and Grant, some black stuff came out of their bodies," Kim explained. "And her little brother, Grant, said that he saw a strange man in the bushes wearing an orange and gray metal suit. Sound familiar?"

"Definitely! That sounds like those kids saw my twisted twin, Hardrock!" Kento muttered out loud. "And that 'black stuff' must have been Black Chi! That jerk has some nerve, picking on little kids. That's about as low as you can get!"

"I definitely agree with that, Kento!" Kim muttered angrily. "If I wasn't there to protect my brother and sisters, Hardrock and his pet werewolf could've easily swiped some Black Chi from them."

"Any idea where they're at, Kim?" Kento asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they're watching us right now, Kento," Kim reluctantly admitted. "I think they followed me here. I did leave that werewolf a souvenir with my fist!"

"We better find them, Kim, and fast!" Kento announced. "We gotta stop them before they go after any more kids!"

"I hear ya. Let's do this!" Kim agreed.

Together, Kento and Kim slowly walked away from the dojo, carefully looking around at the surrounding darkness for anything suspicious.

"Huh?" Kim gasped. She could clearly see a pair of glowing yellow eyes staring at her from the forest bordering Sage's backyard. "Yo, Kento! Over there!"

Kento turned around and saw the pair of glowing yellow eyes that Kim was pointing at before they disappeared into the darkness. "Come on, Kim! We better go check it out!" Kento suggested.

"What are we waiting for? Let's move out!" Kim shouted as the two friends headed into the dark forest.

"You scared, Kim?" Kento asked curiously as he looked over at Kim.

"Hell, no!" Kim retorted loudly.

"Maybe you should be scared!" a familiar voice remarked with a sinister laugh.

"It's him!" Kim muttered out loud.

"Where are you hiding, scumbag?" Kento shouted.

"Much closer than you think, Kento of Hardrock!" Hardrock announced as he stepped out from behind a nearby tree, stepping into a patch of pale moonlight.

"Why should we be afraid of you, Hardrock?" Kento retorted.

"Haven't you two ever seen monster movies before?" Hardrock asked sarcastically. "The monster always ends up killing the innocent-looking couple."

"Your armor must be on too tight! Monsters aren't real, especially movie monsters!"

"And another thing, Hardrock, what makes you think we're a couple?" Kim asked, catching Kento a bit off-guard.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter to me, anyway. My werewolf will tear you both apart!" Hardrock boasted loudly as he snickered evilly.

Kento and Kim were a bit startled when they heard a twig snap from somewhere behind them. The two friends turned around and gasped loudly when they saw the werewolf charging right at them.

"Kim, get out of the way!" Kento shouted as he pushed Kim out of the path of the advancing werewolf.

"Kento, what the hell are you doing?" Kim remarked as she landed on the ground. Her hazel eyes widened out of shock as she watched Kento jump high up in the air, barely avoiding the werewolf charging at him.

"DAO GI!" Kento shouted as he transformed into his orange and white sub- armor.

"Stupid werewolf! You missed him!" Hardrock shouted angrily at the werewolf as Kento landed on the ground.

"You're mine!" Kento shouted as he charged towards Hardrock and the werewolf.

"What are you waiting for? Get him!" Hardrock commanded as he clutched the remote in his hand.

The werewolf reluctantly nodded his head as he ran towards Kento. The two collided with each other, falling to the ground. Kento tried to punch the werewolf, but the werewolf repeatedly rolled around on the ground, avoiding most of Kento's blows.

"This is a very interesting match: man versus beast. My money's on the beast!" Hardrock retorted with a sinister chuckle.

"You forget about one thing, Hardhead: me!" Kim retorted.

"It's Hardrock, kokoro!" Hardrock muttered angrily as he glared at Kim with his orange eyes.

"There's only one Hardrock around here, and guess what? It sure as hell ain't you!" Kim shouted as she swung a fist at Hardrock's face. Hardrock managed to avoid Kim's flying fist, but she ended up hitting his hand, causing him to drop the remote.

"NO!" Hardrock shouted as he helplessly watched the remote land on a rock, smashing it into pieces. Suddenly, the werewolf, who was right on top of Kento, stopped attacking him.

"Huh?" Kento gasped, puzzling over why the werewolf stopped fighting him. The werewolf turned his head and growled angrily at Hardrock.

"Don't even think about it!" Hardrock warned the werewolf, although he knew that he no longer had control over the mutated creature.

To everyone's surprise, the werewolf got up and sped towards Hardrock. The werewolf snapped at Hardrock with his sharp fangs, which Hardrock barely avoided.

"I don't get it. Why did that werewolf turn against Hardrock?" Kento asked curiously as Kim helped him get up.

"I don't know, Kento. Probably had something to do with that remote I smashed," Kim revealed.

The two friends looked up and watched as Hardrock kicked the werewolf in the stomach, pushing the creature away from him. The werewolf growled angrily as he crouched down in an attack position.

"I don't think so, you stupid beast!" Hardrock retorted as he teleported away, just as the werewolf leapt at him. The werewolf ended up crashing into the ground where Hardrock once stood.

"Aww, man! He got away... again!" Kento complained.

"Forget about him, Kento! We got something more important to take care of," Kim remarked as she pointed at the werewolf, who was peering at them from behind a tree.

All of a sudden, to Kento and Kim's surprise, the werewolf suddenly started to shrink, returning to his original form. The chocolate brown wolf looked up at Kento and Kim before he ran off into the night.

"That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Kim muttered out loud.

"Yeah, and I thought humans turned into werewolves, not the other way around!" Kento remarked.

"Come on, Kento! That wasn't a real werewolf!" Kim shouted.

"Then how can you explain what just happened, Kim?" Kento asked.

"Look, I'm not positive about this, but if that little troll, Devaki, can make clones of you and your friends, armor and all, then who says he can't somehow make a werewolf?" Kim asked.

"I guess you got a point there, Kim," Kento reluctantly admitted.

"Since there's nothing else we can do, we should head back," Kim suggested.

"All right, then. Let's get this party started!" Kento shouted as he changed out of his sub-armor back into his costume. As soon as he returned back into his regular clothes, Kento and Kim walked through the forest back to Sage's dojo...

"Hardrock! I wasn't expecting you back so soon," Devaki admitted after Hardrock teleported into the Dark Crystal room.

"Unfortunately, I had no choice," Hardrock muttered angrily as he handed Devaki the necklace with the Dark Crystal fragment.

"Let's see what you collected from those annoying children so far," Devaki muttered out loud as he inserted the Dark Crystal fragment into his small black device and pressed the button. Instantly, the dark energy was released and became absorbed into five Dark Crystals.

"Very impressive, Hardrock," Devaki admitted. "You have collected more Black Chi than either Wildfire or Halo. It's possible that since your targets were so young, they had more Black Chi than the older humans do."

"Thank you, Devaki. I could have collected much more, but that stupid kokoro of earth somehow discovered my plan and even turned that werewolf against me!" Hardrock muttered angrily.

"I assume that the remote for the werewolf's collar was destroyed," Devaki theorized.

"Exactly. With that creature running free, he could come after me again, Devaki," Hardrock confessed.

"I seriously doubt that, Hardrock," Devaki muttered out loud.

"What do you mean?" Hardrock asked curiously.

"That creature won't remain a werewolf for long, Hardrock. I intentionally formulated a temporary mutagen in case something like this happened," Devaki revealed.

Good thing you planned ahead!" Hardrock admitted.

"Next time, Hardrock, be more careful!" Devaki warned Hardrock...

"Hey, Little Mermaid! Can I have this dance?" Kento, who was in his full werewolf costume, asked a teenage girl with long strawberry blonde hair in a mermaid costume.

"Dream on, Kento!" the girl retorted as she moved through the crowd of dancing teenagers, all dressed in a wide variety of costumes, to get away from Kento.

"How did she know it was me?" Kento asked himself. "This stinks! Even with a disguise, I can't get a dance!"

Through the eyeholes of his werewolf mask, Kento looked around at the crowd of people. His eyes focused on Kim, who seemed to be enjoying herself at her spin table setup.

"Well, at least she's having more fun than me!" Kento retorted under his breath as he made his way through the crowd of people towards the spin table. "Excuse me! Coming through!" Kento shouted as he squeezed his way through the crowded dojo. "Hey, Kim!" Kento greeted as he stepped up to the spin table, pulling off his werewolf mask.

"Hey, Kento! Whassup!" Kim replied. She was wearing a baggy clown costume that was half red, half yellow, with a huge white collar and cuffs with red trim, and three large puffballs attached to the front: one red, one blue, and one green. Kim was also wearing huge clown shoes that were red and blue, a wig with curly bright red hair and a large bald spot on top that matched her skin color, a red clown's nose, and red and white makeup around her mouth.

"Kim, your costume looks so awesome!" Kento admitted.

"Thanks, Kento," Kim replied.

"You look so much like Homey D. Clown, or should I say Homey 'DJ' Clown?" Kento asked with a huge grin.

"Very funny, Kento," Kim remarked. "I've seen you out on the dance floor. Not having much luck with the ladies, eh?"

Kento felt his face turn red when he found out that Kim saw what happened. "Not at all, Kim," he reluctantly admitted. "How are you holding out, Kim?"

"I gotta say, I love my job," Kim boasted as she selected a record from her collection and set it up on the second record player that wasn't in use. "There's three reasons why I prefer to be a DJ at a party: I didn't need to mingle, I don't have to dance, and I'm also getting paid!"

"Hold on! You're getting paid for this?" Kento asked out of shock.

"Of course, I'm getting paid, Kento. I ain't doing this for free, unless it's for my folks or my brother and sisters," Kim revealed. "The money's going towards some new speakers. These things don't come cheap, Kento."

"Okay, I get that. Would Miss Homey like some apple cider?" Kento asked teasingly.

"Sure thing, Wolf Boy!" Kim retorted as she started to play the second record while stopping the first one simultaneously.

Kento chuckled a little bit as he put on his werewolf mask and cut through the crowd of people once again, heading for the snack table. "Hey, Cye," Kento greeted as he passed Cye and Clara on the dance floor.

"Hey, Kento," Cye replied, who was in his full Musketeer costume, while Clara was dressed in an elegant pale blue Victorian ball gown with a wide hoop skirt.

"I must say, Cye, you look so handsome in that Musketeer costume," Clara whispered.

"Clara..." Cye complained as his cheeks turned red out of embarrassment.

Kento shook his head in disbelief as he finally reached the snack table.

"Hey, Kento," Ryo greeted as he and Rita approached Kento. "What are you doing?"

"Just getting some apple cider for Kim, since she's got her hands full," Kento explained as he poured some apple cider in a plastic cup. He glanced over at Rita, who was wearing a simple black peasant dress with red trim. "And who are you supposed to be, Rita?" Kento asked curiously.

"I'm one of Ryo's victims," Rita revealed a bit jokingly as she pulled back her long black hair, showing Kento the rubber bite marks glued to the side of her neck with traces of fake blood.

"Oh, I see. You guys have been necking!" Kento remarked teasingly. "Ryo must have really sunk his teeth into you, Rita!" Rita giggled a bit at Kento's joke.

"Very funny, Kento," Ryo admitted with a quick chuckle.

"Where is everyone?" Kento asked curiously. "I saw Cye and Clara on the floor, and it's obvious where Kim is."

"Rowen and Roxie are standing over there, by the entrance," Rita revealed as he pointed at Rowen and Roxie. Rowen was in his full Musketeer costume as well, and Roxie was wearing a dark blue and white flamenco dress with an artificial white rose tucked into her hair.

"And Sage is out on the dance floor," Ryo added. Kento turned his head and looked out at Sage, who was talking with some girls.

"Being the center of attention, as always. Why doesn't that surprise me?" Kento asked sarcastically. "What about Sandra? Where is she?"

"Right behind you, Kento," Sandra announced from behind him.

Kento turned around and gasped a bit when he saw Sandra in her costume for the first time. She was wearing a long tattered white dress, which almost matched her naturally pale skin, and a wig with long messy white hair.

"What are you, Sandra? A ghost?" Kento asked curiously.

"No, I'm a banshee, Kento," Sandra explained. "Banshees are spirits from Irish folklore that would appear at night and let out a terrible wail that killed anyone who heard it."

"Yeah, I remember hearing about banshees before, Sandra," Kento admitted.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised that Dulcea or any of her Ronin clones haven't tried anything," Ryo revealed. "It's been almost a month since Rita and I ran into Wildfire with that necrophidius."

"Well, actually... Hardrock was up to no good tonight," Kento hesitantly confessed, catching Ryo, Rita, and Sandra by surprise.

"Hardrock? What happened with him, Kento?" Ryo asked curiously.

"I'll fill you guys in later. Right now, I gotta give this to Kim," Kento explained as he headed back onto the dance floor with the cup of apple cider in his hand...TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Inspiration

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 11-Inspiration

"The poem that I'm about to read is entitled 'A Quarter for the Homeless', which was written by one of my students last year," Mrs. Rose announced to her seventh period class. She was currently teaching her College English course.

Mrs. Rose could tell that most of her students were squirming around in their seats slightly, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring so that they could leave her classroom. Among the few students that were paying close attention were Rowen and Roxie, who were patiently waiting for their teacher to start reading the poem. Mrs. Rose cleared her throat for a moment before she started reading:

" 'A quarter for the homeless. Homeless man on the side of the road. Road to nowhere. Nowhere but that one cold place. Place where I can dream. Dream about the days of gold and women. Women now only pitch coins in my cup. Cup of coffee these days is like the Rolex I once had. Had it all but now it's gone. Gone is a nice word for nothing. Nothing is what she left me ten years past. Past is where I wish I was. Was it all something I could have kept. Kept pushin' a little further until I broke. Broke is my title these days. Days when I find shelter under a newspaper. Newspapers knew it was gonna happen. Happens that no one told me though. Though I lost it all I am not depressed or sad. Sad would only be wasting what I do have. Have you got a quarter for the homeless?' "

"That was an excellent poem, Mrs. Rose," Roxie confessed.

"Thank you, Roxanna," Mrs. Rose replied. "Can anyone identify the technique being used here?" Rowen's hand immediately went up in response to Mrs. Rose's question. "Yes, Rowen?" Mrs. Rose asked.

"That particular author used the wraparound technique, which involves starting the next line of a poem with the last word from the previous line," Rowen explained.

"Very good, Rowen," Mrs. Rose replied. "I have one last poem I'd like to read to you before you leave today. It's called 'Map to Forgiveness', which was done by another one of my past students." Mrs. Rose picked up a second piece of paper from her desk and started to read from it.

" 'There was a shortcut at I'm Sorry. I must have missed that turn. I traveled down the long and windy road of Stubbornness instead. I traveled around Circle of Stupidity, got lost on the Avenue of Pride. I didn't see the detour at It's My Fault. I was looking for the sign that says It's Yours. I missed the sharp right at Forgive Me, and ended up on the Highway of Pain. I got off the exit at Remorse, and traveled through the town Too Late. There was a shortcut at I'm Sorry, but I must have missed that turn.' "

Mrs. Rose paused for a moment as she looked up at her class. "What do you believe the author was trying to express in his work? Anyone?" Mrs. Rose noticed that Roxie had her hand raised. "Yes, Roxanna?"

"I believe that this poem could be the author's way of apologizing for something he might have done in the past," Roxie revealed. "He could have done something that resulted in losing a good friend and it probably took him a while to realize that it was his fault, and not his friend's."

"That's quite a conclusion you came to, Roxanna. Anyone else?" Mrs. Rose asked the class. Just then, the bell rang, ending the class. As everyone got up from their desks and started to gather their belongings, Mrs. Rose announced, "We'll continue this discussion tomorrow. And don't forget, your poetry assignment is due at the end of the week. Feel free to experiment with the writing techniques we went over in class. Have a nice day, everyone."

"This is probably going to be our easiest assignment ever," Roxie admitted as she and Rowen left the classroom together. "Writing poetry is a piece of cake. Don't you agree, Rowen?" Rowen was completely silent, lost in his own thoughts. "Rowen!" Roxie shouted, bringing Rowen back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Roxie. What did you say?" Rowen asked.

"Don't you agree that this poetry assignment is going to be easy?" Roxie repeated.

"Umm... yes, Roxie, of course. Piece of cake," Rowen muttered out loud as the two friends continued walking down the hallway to their lockers...

"I absolutely abhor poetry!" Rowen confessed to Cye and Ryo. The three friends were outside on the soccer field, all dressed in T-shirts, sweat pants, and sneakers. They were all working on their pushups, along with the rest of the teenage boys in their Physical Education class.

"Save the chitchat for the locker room, Rowen!" Coach Zettler shouted.

"Sorry, Mr. Zettler. It won't happen again," Rowen quickly apologized.

Coach Zettler walked in front of his gym class and blew his whistle. "All right, everyone! I want ten laps around the soccer field! No cutting around the corners of the field or you're doing extra laps! Now go!"

Some of the boys groaned as they all got up and started to run around the soccer field. "Mr. Zettler is so strict! How can you stand him, Ryo?" Cye asked curiously.

"Believe me, Cye, he's not as bad as you think," Ryo replied as he, Cye, and Rowen ran around the first goal post, followed by the rest of the class.

"Not to interrupt, but can we focus back on my problem?" Rowen asked a bit impatiently.

"Sure, Rowen," Cye replied as they finished their first lap.

"What I don't get is how can a genius like yourself have a problem with such an easy English assignment?" Ryo asked curiously.

"That's the thing, Ryo. I don't know why poetry is so difficult for me," Rowen confessed. "I understand all of the writing techniques that are involved, but when it comes to actually writing poetry, it's like my brain freezes up or something. I'm lucky to be able to pull off a C."

"Well, if you want, maybe Ryo and I can help you with this poetry assignment," Cye suggested as they started their third lap.

"This is a first for me. Normally, it's you guys asking me for help with homework, not the other way around!" Rowen remarked.

"Hey, there's a first time for everything, Rowen," Ryo pointed out.

Rowen was silent for a few moments, thinking it over as they continued running. "Okay, we'll do that. How about both of you come over tomorrow after school?" Rowen asked.

"I can't, Rowen. I have soccer practice, remember?" Ryo reminded Rowen.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. How about you both come over around five tomorrow for dinner?" Rowen asked.

"Umm... sure, Rowen. You're not... cooking, are you?" Ryo asked cautiously.

"No, I'm not, Ryo. My mother will be cooking dinner. She has off from work tomorrow," Rowen revealed.

"That's very good, Rowen. No offense to you, but the first and last time you tried your hand at cooking, we almost died from food poisoning!" Cye remarked teasingly.

"Do you have to bring that up again, Cye?" Rowen asked a bit angrily as Ryo tried hard to muffle his snickering.

"I'm sorry, Rowen. I'll help you out tomorrow," Cye apologized.

"So will I," Ryo added as the three friends finished their fourth lap around the soccer field...

"What is it, Devaki?" Dulcea asked as her servant hobbled into her throne room.

"Lady Dulcea, I need to speak to Strata right away," Devaki revealed as he bowed to Dulcea. "I need to discuss an important plan with him."

"Very well, then. Strata, come forth!" Dulcea commanded. Almost instantly, Strata entered the throne room.

"You called for me, Lady Dulcea?" Strata asked as he bowed respectfully to Dulcea.

"Devaki wishes to speak with you, Strata," Dulcea explained.

Strata turned around towards Dulcea's servant and asked, "What do you want with me, Devaki?"

"I need your help in capturing a rare creature that will soon be arriving on this planet," Devaki explained.

"What kind of creature, Devaki?" Strata asked curiously.

"This creature goes by many names, Strata, but on Earth, it is known as a sphinx," Devaki revealed.

"A sphinx? You mean they're real?" Strata asked out of surprise.

"Indeed they are, Strata. Sphinxes are immortal creatures whose sole purpose is to travel to different worlds and gather as much knowledge as possible," Devaki explained. "Only one sphinx exists in each galaxy, and the sphinx inhabiting this galaxy arrives on Earth every one hundred years. According to my calculations, the sphinx is due to arrive at Lake Biwa in Japan two days from now."

"I see, Devaki. But why do we need to capture this sphinx?" Strata asked curiously.

"As I mentioned before, the sphinx has a vast amount of knowledge that we can use to our advantage," Devaki explained. "This creature has witnessed several great battles and wars in its time, including Talpa's first invasion of the mortal world. It must have witnessed the creation of the nine Ronin armors, so it would know the key to destroying them once and for all."

"If everything you say about this creature is true, Devaki, it would be well worth it to capture the sphinx for our own personal use," Dulcea admitted.

"It will be worth it. I promise you that, Lady Dulcea," Devaki confessed.

"All right, Devaki. I'll assist you with capturing the sphinx," Strata finally agreed...

"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Hashiba," Ryo replied as he and Cye started to follow Rowen upstairs to his bedroom.

"It was delicious," Cye admitted.

"Thank you, boys," Mrs. Hashiba confessed.

"This way, guys," Rowen announced as he opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside, followed by Ryo and Cye.

"Rowen, have you even tried to work on your poetry assignment at all?" Cye asked curiously as he sat down on a wooden chair at Rowen's desk.

"Yes, I did, Cye. I've been trying for the past five days, but I came up with absolutely nothing," Rowen revealed as he sat down on his bed, while Ryo sat on a second chair in the room.

"You know, maybe if you try clearing your mind of everything, it'll help you concentrate on this assignment of yours," Ryo suggested. "Do you have any other homework due this week, Rowen?"

"Not anymore, Ryo," Rowen explained. "I already finished all of my homework, except for this poetry assignment, of course."

"I agree with Ryo about clearing your mind of everything. What about meditating? Have you tried that at all?" Cye asked. To his surprise, Rowen didn't answer him at all. He was staring out of his bedroom window. "Rowen? Didn't you hear me?" Cye shouted loudly, bringing Rowen back to reality.

"I'm sorry. What was that, Cye?" Rowen asked as he looked over at Cye.

"You know, Rowen, this is the first time I've ever seen you look vacant!" Cye remarked with a slight smirk.

"I'm sorry about that, Cye. I promise that it won't happen again," Rowen promised.

"What's so interesting that you decide to stare out the window instead of listen to us?" Ryo asked curiously as he got up and walked towards the window.

"It's nothing, Ryo. You don't need to get up!" Rowen lied as he nervously watched Ryo peer through the slightly open blinds.

Ryo noticed that one of the windows of the neighboring house was directly across from Rowen's bedroom window. He gasped slightly out of surprise when he saw Roxie pass by the window. "Oh, I see what you've been doing, Rowen," Ryo muttered out loud as he turned away from the window.

"What has he been doing?" Cye asked curiously.

"Looks like our friend here has been spying on his neighbor, Roxie!" Ryo announced. "Her bedroom window is right across from Rowen's."

"I haven't been spying on Roxie, Ryo!" Rowen denied as his face turned beet red. "I would never invade her privacy like that!"

"Then what have you been doing?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Roxie knows that my bedroom window is parallel to hers. Sometimes, we talk to each other from our rooms when we have the time, rather than use the telephone. We usually just discuss homework assignments and any upcoming tests we have."

"So, why didn't you just ask Roxie for help instead of getting us involved?" Cye asked curiously.

"She does live right next door to you, Rowen," Ryo pointed out.

"I can't do that, guys," Rowen muttered out loud.

"And why not?" Cye asked.

"Because... I might have led Roxie to believe that I'm a decent poetry writer," Rowen reluctantly admitted.

"Excuse me? You what?" Ryo asked out of shock.

"I can't believe you would lie to Roxie about something like this," Cye admitted.

"I know, Cye. I didn't mean to lie to Roxie. It just. came out that way," Rowen explained.

"You are going to tell her the truth, right, Rowen?" Ryo asked.

"Of course I'll tell Roxie the truth," Rowen assured his two friends...

"Just a little bit more..." Devaki muttered to himself. Dulcea's hunchbacked servant was sitting at a table in his laboratory, tightening a screw on a pair of small black binoculars. "There we go. Perfect!" Devaki admitted as he held up the binoculars and looked through the eyepieces to make sure it was working properly.

As he looked around the room with the binoculars, Devaki noticed a large patch of dark blue metal enter his laboratory. Devaki looked up from the binoculars at Strata, who was standing next to the table. "Glad you could make it, Strata," Devaki admitted as he got off of his stool. "I have some tools for you that'll assist you in capturing that sphinx tomorrow."

"What kind of tools, Devaki?" Strata asked curiously.

"First, there's these binoculars," Devaki explained as he handed Strata the black binoculars he was working on earlier.

"What do I need binoculars for, Devaki?" Strata asked suspiciously. "I'm only going to be a few yards away from where the sphinx is supposed to land, according to your calculations."

"These aren't ordinary binoculars, Strata. You see, besides possessing a vast amount of knowledge from many worlds, the sphinx has great powers as well. One of these powers is invisibility, which is what the sphinx uses so it can observe what's going on without being seen," Devaki explained. "With the binoculars, you will be able to see through the sphinx's shield of invisibility. You will also need this special rope."

"What's this for?" Strata asked as Devaki handed him a long, thick black rope.

"This special rope will ensure that the sphinx will be caught," Devaki explained. "Besides invisibility, the sphinx possesses great strength and would be able to break through normal ropes and chains. This rope will bind all of the sphinx's powers, allowing you to capture it, Strata. There's one more thing. You're going to need help capturing the sphinx, so bring some of Dulcea's arcanes with you to Lake Biwa tomorrow."

"I'll do that, Devaki," Strata muttered out loud as he left Devaki's lab with the binoculars and rope...

"Let's see... I can probably use this quote here," Roxie muttered to herself as she jotted some notes into her notebook. She was sitting at a table in the school library with an open library book spread out in front of her.

Roxie was a bit surprised to see a tall shadow coming from behind her. She turned around and smiled a little bit when she recognized Rowen, who had a few books under his arm. "Hey, Rowen. What brings you here?" Roxie asked in a whisper.

"I'm just returning some books that I borrowed," Rowen explained as he walked over to the desk and handed his books to the librarian on duty. "What about you, Roxie? What are you doing here?"

"Just doing some reading for our English term paper," Roxie explained as she continued writing in her notebook.

"That's not due until next month," Rowen whispered as he sat down next to Roxie.

"I know, Rowen, but it never hurts to get an early start," Roxie pointed out. "I finished reading this book, and I'm just copying down some quotes I plan to use for my term paper."

"So, what book did you choose for the term paper?" Rowen asked as he looked down at the open book that Roxie was copying her quotes from.

"It's called 'Brave New World', by Aldous Huxley," Roxie replied.

"I remember reading that book. I found the author's grim prediction of the future very interesting," Rowen confessed.

"You definitely got the 'grim' part right, Rowen," Roxie admitted. "For a book written in the nineteen-thirties, some of Huxley's predictions are starting to come true, especially when it comes to cloning. I found it kind of eerie that he would predict a world where nearly everyone's an identical clone of each other, promiscuity and taking this drug they call 'soma' is an everyday part of life, and things that we would consider normal, such as reading books and having children, is considered primitive."

"Yeah, I know," Rowen muttered out loud as he stared down at the table. "Umm... Roxie? There's something I need to tell you. It's about this poetry assignment."

Rowen waited for some sort of response from Roxie, but he didn't hear a word from her. He lifted his head to look at her and gasped slightly when he saw Roxie with her head lying on the table and her eyes closed. Rowen quickly realized what was happening to Roxie.

"Come on, Roxie. Wake up," he whispered as he gently shook Roxie's shoulder. Suddenly, Roxie moaned slightly as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Rowen. "Roxie, did you have one of those visions?" Rowen whispered. Roxie silently nodded her head. "Tell me, what happened?" Rowen asked.

Roxie glanced over at the librarian, who was sitting nearby. Without a word, Roxie stood up from the table and motioned for Rowen to follow her. Rowen quickly got up and followed Roxie into one of the long aisles of books. "Sorry about that, but I didn't want to risk the librarian overhearing our conversation," Roxie revealed.

"I understand, Roxie. Now, tell me what you saw," Rowen requested.

"It was Strata, and he's up to no good," Roxie explained. "He and some odd- looking white zombies are attacking what looks like a sphinx."

"A sphinx, Roxie? Are you sure?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Of course I'm sure, Rowen. It looked just like that stone statue of the Sphinx at Giza, Egypt," Roxie replied.

"Do you know where this is going to occur?" Rowen asked.

"It's going to happen along a large lake west of Ogaki," Roxie explained.

"A large lake west of Ogaki... sounds like Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan," Rowen muttered thoughtfully.

"One thing I don't understand is how can a creature such as the sphinx actually exist," Roxie muttered out loud.

"I don't exactly understand it either, Roxie, but one thing's for sure: if it involves Strata, it can't be anything good," Rowen confessed. "We better get to Lake Biwa as soon as possible."

"Right, Rowen," Roxie agreed as she followed Rowen to the exit...

"Stand ready. The sphinx will be arriving any moment now," Strata announced to the six arcanes standing below him. He was standing in a tall tree overlooking Lake Biwa, while the arcanes were hiding behind a row of bushes. The arcanes were tall, bald, ghastly-white creatures, all wearing dark gray sleeveless robes and boots. Each arcane was armed with a lasso of the black rope in one hand and a spear in the other.

"Hmm?" Strata murmured to himself when he saw a dark speck in the sky through his binoculars.

_Is this the sphinx that Devaki spoke of? Or am I just seeing some sort of bird?_ Strata thought to himself.

Upon lowering the binoculars, Strata realized that the speck he saw had completely disappeared. He looked through the binoculars again and found the speck again. Strata gasped when he realized that the flying creature he saw was much too big to be a bird. "There it is!" Strata gasped out of astonishment as he watched the huge creature land on the shore of the lake.

The creature had the body of a lioness, large white-feathered wings attached to her back, and the head of a female human. The human face was tan in complexion with shoulder-length black hair, golden yellow cat's eyes, and a gold band around her head.

"Wait for my signal," Strata instructed the arcanes as he loaded an arrow in his bow and aimed it carefully at the sphinx, who was taking a drink of water from the lake. With her back turned towards him, Strata fired the arrow at the sphinx. The golden arrow struck the ground just a few feet away from the sphinx, exploding into a ball of yellow light.

Startled by the unexpected flash of light, the sphinx was caught off-guard and became visible to Strata and the six arcanes. "Get her now, before she recovers!" Strata shouted. The arcanes nodded silently as they ran towards the stunned sphinx, her eyes still closed tightly.

One arcane threw his lasso at the sphinx's head. The massive creature gasped when she felt a thick rope tighten around her neck. She opened her eyes and growled angrily when she saw the arcane holding the rope that was around her neck. The sphinx quickly stood up on her hind legs in an attempt to fling the arcane away from her. Instead, two more arcanes lassoed both of her forelegs, preventing her from striking any of them.

"Quick, secure the wings!" Strata shouted when he saw the sphinx starting to take off in the air. One of the remaining three arcanes quickly threw his lasso around the sphinx's wings. With her wings tied tightly together, the sphinx came crashing down to the ground below. "We've got her now. Tie her up!" Strata ordered the six arcanes.

The arcanes all nodded their heads as they quickly went to work. Three of the arcanes wrapped the ropes tightly around the sphinx's muscular legs and massive wings, while the other arcanes attached the loose ends of the ropes to the ground with heavy metal stakes and chains. Suddenly, the sphinx let out a loud, shrill cry that sounded like a combination between a lion's roar and a hawk's screech...

"This is definitely the same lake I saw in the vision I had earlier," Roxie admitted as she stepped onto the sandy shore of Lake Biwa.

"It's been so long since I've been here last," Rowen, who was in his sub- armor, muttered aloud as he gazed out at the body of water spread out before him and Roxie.

"You've been here before? When was that?" Roxie asked curiously as she looked at Rowen.

"During the long battle against Talpa and his Evil Dynasty, the spirit of the Ancient led me here in order to discover the spirit of my armor," Rowen explained. "Ironically, this is also the very place where the others solved the last verse of the poem I told you about, revealing my location in outer space."

Roxie was about to say something when she noticed some slight movement on the opposite shore. "Rowen, look! Over there!" Roxie announced as she pointed at the other side of Lake Biwa.

"It has to be Strata," Rowen muttered thoughtfully. "We better check it out. Hang on, Roxie."

"All right," Roxie replied as she wrapped her arms around Rowen's neck. In just moments, a hollow sphere of dark blue light encompassed Rowen and Roxie and lifted them a few feet in the air. Roxie tightened her grip around Rowen's neck slightly as they rocketed across the freshwater lake, just inches away from the water's surface.

"There he is!" Rowen announced when he recognized his evil clone on the opposing shoreline, standing next to the sphinx that Roxie described from her vision.

"Tighten those ropes!" Strata ordered the arcanes. As he watched the arcanes pull the black ropes even more taut, Strata spotted a small dot of dark blue light coming from the lake. "Hmm?" Strata murmured to himself as he turned around and stared out at the lake. Strata looked through the binoculars and scowled angrily to himself when he saw who was in the distant orb of dark blue light.

"It's Rowen of Strata, and that annoying kokoro of air is with him. I don't know how they discovered our plan, but they won't live to stop me!" Strata quickly dropped the binoculars, grabbed his bow, and fired a bombardment of arrows at the dot of dark blue light.

"Rowen, look out!" Roxie shouted.

Rowen looked up and saw the several incoming arrows heading towards him and Roxie. "Hold on!" Rowen instructed as he used his willpower to steer the orb of dark blue light back and forth, avoiding most of the arrows. A few arrows barely nicked the orb, but that didn't slow down the two friends.

"Let's see them try to avoid this!" Strata muttered angrily as he loaded another arrow in his bow. "ARROW SHOCK WAVE!"

"Oh, no!" Rowen gasped when he recognized the massive blast of yellow energy heading towards him and Roxie.

From the shore, Strata watched as his attack apparently found its target, resulting in a huge explosion and a massive column of water rising high above the surface of Lake Biwa.

"Ha! They're finished!" Strata admitted boastfully with a sinister chuckle. He abruptly stopped laughing when he saw the dark blue orb emerge unscathed from the column of water.

"It can't be! They shouldn't have survived!" Strata gasped out of shock as the orb landed on the shore just a few yards away from him.

"Roxie, take cover," Rowen instructed, pointing at the nearby forest.

"All right, Rowen," Roxie agreed as she quickly ran over to the bordering trees.

"I don't know what you're up to, Strata, but you won't get away with it!" Rowen proclaimed as he held up his clenched fist.

"Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI! I'm warning you now, Strata. Only one of us will walk away from this fight," Rowen announced as he took out his bow.

"Well, what you waiting for? Let's get it on!" Strata retorted menacingly.

In just moments, a shower of golden arrows rained down on both Rowen and Strata. Roxie, who was watching everything from behind an old oak tree, gasped slightly when she saw three of the arcanes sneaking up behind Rowen with their spears drawn.

"I have to stop them before they get to Rowen," Roxie told herself as she concentrated on the three pale creatures. "WHIRLWIND!" The arcanes struggled to walk through the powerful wind, but one by one, they each got picked up by the intense winds and thrown into the nearby lake. "That should take care of them," Roxie muttered to herself.

She turned her head and looked at the massive sphinx restrained by the thick black ropes. After a few moments of staring at the mythical creature, Roxie started experiencing feelings of guilt and pity towards the sphinx, who was struggling against her bindings.

"That poor thing. She shouldn't be tied up like that," Roxie whispered solemnly as she headed over to the sphinx, being careful to avoid some of the stray arrows from the ongoing battle between Rowen and Strata.

The sphinx slowly lifted her head when she heard footsteps approaching and growled a warning. "Take it easy there. I'm here to help you," Roxie assured the sphinx as she reached for the rope around the sphinx's neck. She never noticed the three remaining arcanes sneaking up on her from behind the sphinx.

The sphinx spotted the three arcanes in the corner of her eye and, using her tail, knocked the arcanes into the water. Roxie heard the screams and turned towards the lake just in time to see the remaining arcanes hit the water with a huge splash.

"Muchas gracias," Roxie replied as she finished untying the rope around the sphinx's neck and started working on the rope securing the sphinx's left front paw...

"Had enough, Rowen of Strata?" Strata asked sarcastically as he panted a bit, with numerous beads of sweat running down his face. Both warriors were starting to show signs of fatigue.

"No way!" Rowen proclaimed in between gasps of air, his face soaked in perspiration. "I'll never give up to the likes of you!" Suddenly, Rowen noticed a massive shadowy figure standing behind Strata. "What the..." Rowen murmured under his breath as he took a few steps back.

"What's the matter, Rowen of Strata? Giving up already?" Strata asked sinisterly, unaware of the huge shadow standing behind him. He withdrew an arrow from his quiver, loaded it into his bow, and aimed the arrow at Rowen's unprotected face. "Prepare to say goodbye to this world!"

Before Strata could fire his arrow at Rowen, he suddenly felt the presence of something standing behind him. He turned around and gasped loudly when he recognized the sphinx, completely free of her restraints. She was staring down at him with anger burning in her golden yellow cat's eyes.

"Oh, great!" Strata muttered angrily under his breath as the sphinx lifted one of her massive paws. Before she could strike him, Strata teleported away. "This isn't over, Rowen of Strata! We shall meet again and finish what we've started!" Strata's voice echoed.

"I'll look forward to that day," Rowen muttered out loud. He heard large footsteps and saw that the sphinx was approaching him. Uncertain whether the creature was good or evil, Rowen cautiously reached for an arrow from his quiver.

"Rowen, don't hurt her!" Roxie shouted.

Startled from hearing Roxie's voice, Rowen stopped what he was doing and looked up at his friend, who was sitting behind the sphinx's massive head. "Roxie, what do you think you're doing?" Rowen asked suspiciously as Roxie climbed off of the sphinx's back.

"It's okay, Rowen. She's on our side," Roxie revealed as she approached Rowen.

The two friends looked back up at the sphinx, who was sitting on her hind legs, like a cat would. The sphinx bowed her head deeply and spoke in a deep noble voice, "My thanks to you, Rowen of Strata, for saving my life."

"You... you can talk?" Rowen stuttered out of astonishment.

"Of course I can, Rowen of Strata," the sphinx replied as she raised her head.

"How do you know my name?" Rowen asked curiously as he put away his bow.

"I recognize the armor that you're wearing as the true armor of Strata," the sphinx explained. "Although that imposter that attempted to capture me wore armor similar to your own, I sensed the aura of evil surrounding it and knew it couldn't be the real Ronin armor of Strata."

"How do you know about Rowen's armor?" Roxie asked curiously.

"Many years ago, I witnessed the death of an armor shell belonging to a evil demon and the birth of nine new armors, including your own, Rowen of Strata," the sphinx revealed. "It was shortly after the defeat of this evil demon by the hands of the guardian of your world. It was the greatest battle the world had ever seen between the forces of good and evil."

"She's definitely telling the truth, Roxie," Rowen verified. "Our armors were created from Talpa's armor, along with the armors of the four Dark Warlords, by the Ancient. Until his death, he was the guardian of our world."

"His spirit still watches over you, Rowen of Strata, along with the four other Ronin Warriors," the sphinx added. "I even know of the kokoro that resides inside of you, Roxanna Rodriguez."

"How do you know about all of this?" Rowen asked curiously.

"I visit your planet every one hundred years. During my visits here, I collect vast amounts of an item that I consider to be of great value," the sphinx explained.

"And what is that?" Roxie asked.

"I collect knowledge," the sphinx revealed. "I've witnessed many of your planet's historical events over the centuries."

"Do you think that maybe that's why Strata and those strange creatures were trying to capture the sphinx?" Roxie asked Rowen.

"That's a possibility," Rowen agreed. "I'm sure that Dulcea could find a way to use that knowledge to her advantage."

"Excuse me for so abrupt, but I must be going now," the sphinx interrupted as she stood up on all fours. "I shouldn't stay here. That imposter might come back for me. Also, I must explore your world and see for myself what has changed in a hundred years."

"We understand," Rowen replied.

As Rowen and Roxie started to walk to the forest, the sphinx shouted, "Rowen of Strata! Before you go, may I have a word with you in private?"

"Well, I don't see why not," Rowen replied.

"I'll be waiting by the main road, okay, Rowen?" Roxie asked.

"All right, Roxie," Rowen agreed. As Roxie disappeared into the forest, Rowen approached the sphinx and asked, "So what did you need to speak to me about?"

"In exchange for your heroic deed, Rowen of Strata, I wish to give you something," the sphinx revealed.

"Thanks, but I can't accept anything," Rowen declined.

"All I have to offer you is the knowledge I have gathered over the centuries," the sphinx explained. "Before I leave, perhaps I can offer some advice on a certain problem you're experiencing."

"What problem?" Rowen asked, although he knew what the answer was going to be.

"You seek inspiration, don't you, Rowen of Strata?" the sphinx asked.

"Yes, I suppose I do," Rowen reluctantly admitted.

"There is no shame in that, Rowen of Strata," the sphinx told Rowen. "Over my numerous visits to this planet, I have seen many great literary and scientific minds struggle with their works due to their conflicts with inspiration, such as Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and Leonardo da Vinci.

"Inspiration is a very strange thing. It affects different people in different ways, and also comes in many different forms. To some, inspiration may be a place, a fond memory, a cherished possession, or even a person that they deeply care for. Rowen of Strata, you need not look far for your inspiration, for it's much closer than you think. Do you understand now?"

"I do understand some of what you've told me, but not all of it," Rowen revealed.

"In time, you will understand everything I've told you. I'm afraid I must leave you now," the sphinx announced as she stretched out her wings.

"Before you go, can I ask you something?" Rowen asked.

"Certainly," the sphinx replied.

"How are you able to observe all of these historical events without being seen?" Rowen inquired.

"I have been blessed with the power of invisibility, Rowen of Strata," the sphinx explained. "There was only one other time when I have been seen by mortal eyes, and that was almost five thousand years in a country called Egypt. Until we meet again, Rowen of Strata." With that, the sphinx took off in the air and soon vanished before Rowen's eyes...

"How dare you fail me, Strata!" Dulcea shouted angrily. She was sitting in her throne, with Devaki standing by her side, staring out at the five Ronin clones in the room. Dulcea's eyes were focused on Strata, who was standing in front of the other Ronin clones, with his head bowed down in shame.

"My apologies, Lady Dulcea. If Rowen of Strata and the kokoro of air hadn't intervened." Strata started to explain.

"Silence!" Dulcea interrupted loudly. She looked over at Devaki and asked, "Is it possible to track down that sphinx, Devaki?"

"I'm afraid not, Lady Dulcea," Devaki reluctantly admitted.

Dulcea's expression turned grim as she looked back at Strata with her piercing dark violet eyes. "Get out of my sight, Strata! I'll deal with your punishment later!"

"Yes, Lady Dulcea," Strata replied solemnly as he turned around to leave the room.

As he passed the other Ronin clones, Wildfire remarked, "Way to go, Strata!"

"You have made a disgrace of yourself, not to mention the rest of us!" Halo added with a hint of venom, with Hardrock and Torrent snickering sinisterly.

"Stop it!" Dulcea commanded loudly. The Ronin clones immediately kept quiet upon hearing Dulcea's words. "I've had enough of your childish bickering! I want all of you out of here, now!" Dulcea ordered. All five Ronin clones silently nodded their heads as they filed out of the throne room...

"Come on, Rowen. You can do this," Rowen told himself. It was late at night, and Rowen was sitting at his desk with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper spread out in front of him. After a few minutes of complete silence, Rowen groaned loudly out of frustration and slammed his closed fist on the top of the desk.

"This is hopeless! I can't think of anything to write! I wish I knew what the sphinx meant about my inspiration being closer than I think." Rowen closed his eyes for a few moments, thinking hard about something to write, but he couldn't come up with anything. As he opened his eyes, Rowen muttered to himself, "I just need to clear my head. Perhaps some fresh air will help me."

With that idea in mind, Rowen stood up, approached his window, and reached for the cord to open his blinds. Before he could finish opening his blinds, Rowen noticed the lights coming on in Roxie's bedroom. Roxie entered the bedroom, wearing a bathrobe over her nightgown. Rowen watched Roxie as she took off her robe, hung it on a hook on her bedroom door, and turned off the lights.

"What am I doing?" Rowen asked himself as he slowly walked away from the window and back to his desk. "Roxie's my friend. I shouldn't be staring at her like that." Suddenly, Rowen was surprised when words and ideas started coming to him like an opened floodgate.

"So, that's what the sphinx meant," Rowen realized as he sat down at his desk and started writing...

"Nice job," Mrs. Rose replied as one of her students handed in his poetry assignment to her. She looked up at the rest of students and asked, "Who would like to read their poem next?"

"I'll go, Mrs. Rose," Roxie volunteered as she willingly raised her hand.

"Go ahead, Roxanna," Mrs. Rose instructed.

Roxie stood up from her desk, walked to the front of the classroom, and turned around to face her fellow classmates. "My poem is called 'The Head of the House'," Roxie announced to the class. She cleared her throat a bit before she started to read from the piece of paper she was holding in her hand:

"A man's head is a house. The brain, the attic, where memories, locked away, are released by an unexpected visit. The mouth, the downstairs living room, where thoughts and good conversation come out and can change a life forever. The nose, the kitchen, where good smells arise and trigger tremendous sensations and thoughts. The ears, the doors, where news and good company enter your happy home. The skull and hair, the insulation and roof, where terrors from the outside are blocked to never enter. The eyes, bedroom windows, where children gaze at the stars, and contemplate their dreams."

"Good work, Roxanna," Mrs. Rose admitted as some light clapping filled the room.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rose," Roxie replied as she handed her paper to Mrs. Rose before returning back to her desk.

Mrs. Rose looked up at the clock hanging above the classroom door and realized that there was only five minutes left before class ended. "We have just enough time for one more poem. Who would like to go last?"

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Rowen hesitantly raised his hand and announced, "I'll do it, Mrs. Rose."

"Okay, Rowen. Come on up here," Mrs. Rose instructed. Rowen nodded silently as he got up from his desk and approached the front of the classroom. "Whenever you're ready, Rowen," Mrs. Rose told him.

"All right," Rowen muttered under his breath as he turned to face the classroom full of students. "My poem is entitled 'It Wasn't Like This Yesterday'." Rowen took in a deep breath before he started reading his poem.

"No, it wasn't like this yesterday. The sky was pale and gray. The wind was cold and flowers slept, and music was far away. It wasn't like this yesterday. My dreams were kept at bay. Today, I found, to my surprise, the sky an azure blue. The wind was warm, the flowers abound, and music, loud and true. No, it wasn't like this yesterday. Yesterday, there wasn't you."

"That was an excellent job, Rowen," Mrs. Rose confessed.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rose," Rowen replied. Just then, the bell rang, ending class for the day.

"For those of you who haven't read their poems today, you'll be going next Monday. Have a nice day, everyone," Mrs. Rose announced as everyone gathered their things and left the classroom.

"I enjoyed hearing that poem you wrote for class, Roxie," Rowen confessed as the two friends left the classroom together. "That was very clever of you to compare the rooms of a house with certain portions of a person's head."

"Thank you, Rowen," Roxie replied. "I like that poem you wrote, too. You must have put a lot of thought and consideration into your work. I had no idea you were such a romantic at heart."

"Umm...thanks, Roxie," Rowen stuttered as he felt his face growing hot with embarrassment.

"I have to go to my locker. I'll see you later, Rowen," Roxie revealed as she headed down a separate hallway.

_Thank you, Roxie... for being my inspiration,_ Rowen thought to himself with a small smile on his face as he headed down the hallway...TO BE CONTINUED


	12. Kiss of Death

**_Legend of the Kokoro_**

Episode 12-Kiss of Death

Cye smiled a bit to himself as he looked over at Clara, who was sitting right next to him on the beach blanket. They were sitting on a small cliff overlooking Onaruto Bay, with a large picnic basket set off to the side.

"So, Clara, did you enjoy the meal?" Cye asked curiously.

Clara looked up into Cye's green eyes and smiled at him. "It was great, Cye, as always," she admitted as she affectionately rested her head against Cye's shoulder, causing him to blush a little bit.

After a few minutes had gone by, Cye slowly, but hesitantly, wrapped his arms around Clara's waist, uncertain of how she would react to his awkward advance.

"Getting a little bold, aren't you, Cye?" Clara asked teasingly as she looked up at him once again.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," Cye stuttered nervously as he started to pull his arms away. To his surprise, Clara gently grabbed his arms and put them back around her waist.

"Cye, if I was ever uncomfortable with anything you did, believe me, I'd let you know," Clara told him. "And if you ever feel like I'm making you uncomfortable in any way, I want you to do the same, okay?"

Cye silently nodded his head in agreement. Clara turned her head away and leaned back against Cye's shoulder as they both watched the sun set over the bay.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Clara commented as the sun slowly moved closer to the water, reflecting a rainbow of colors on the surface of the bay.

"It's nothing special...compared to you, that is," Cye whispered softly.

"Aww, Cye, that's so sweet," Clara admitted with a slight giggle as she turned towards Cye and delicately traced her finger along his cheek. Cye leaned forward slightly and kissed Clara on the lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When they eventually pulled away from each other, Clara sighed softly, "I wish we could do this every day."

"Me too, Clara, but unfortunately, we can't," Cye reluctantly admitted with a slight frown. "We have school tomorrow, and I have basketball tryouts after that."

"I know, Cye," Clara replied. "I also have tryouts for the swim team tomorrow, as well."

"It's getting late. We should be heading back home," Cye revealed. "If we're not home soon, our mothers will probably worry themselves to death!"

"I imagine they would!" Clara remarked with a quick laugh as Cye stood up from the blanket and held out his hand to her. Clara smiled slightly as she took Cye's hand and was pulled up by him a bit too quickly, nearly falling into his arms. The two teens both turned slightly red in the face as they shyly took a step away from each other.

"Care to help me with this?" Cye asked, gesturing towards the blanket.

"Certainly," Clara replied as she and Cye bent down and started to fold the blanket...

"Torrent, come forth!" Dulcea commanded, who was sitting on her throne, with Devaki standing by her side.

"You called for me, Lady Dulcea?" Torrent asked as he approached the throne from the surrounding shadows and bowed respectively to Dulcea.

"I've heard that you have formulated a plan to rid us of one of the Ronin Warriors. Is that true?" Dulcea asked.

Torrent lifted his head to look up at Dulcea and replied with a sinister little smirk, "Indeed I have, Lady Dulcea. My plan will be the end of Cye of Torrent and his beloved kokoro of water!"

"Sounds promising, Torrent. Explain your plan to me," Dulcea requested.

"Actually, it would be best if I showed you," Torrent explained as he took out a large glass jar filled with what appeared to be water. He opened the jar, tipped it over, and poured the liquid onto the floor in front of him.

"Torrent, what do you think you're...?" Dulcea started to ask.

Before she could finish her question, both Dulcea and Devaki gasped slightly when the clear liquid formed into a small column and took on the shape of a human. The water soon solidified into a young woman with long golden blonde hair, pearly white skin, and sparkling green eyes. The young girl was wearing nothing but a long white shawl wrapped loosely around her body and shoulders, forming a simple dress.

"What is this creature you have brought before me, Torrent?" Dulcea asked curiously.

"This is what's called a Nereid, Lady Dulcea," Torrent replied, gesturing towards the mysterious young girl. "I found her a few nights ago off the shore of Onaruto Bay."

"I've heard of these Nereids, Lady Dulcea," Devaki whispered to Dulcea. "It's said that their song can seduce even the most strong-willed man, and their kiss can literally drown a man from the inside."

"My plan is to have the Nereid pose as a student at the school that the Ronins attend," Torrent explained. "Once there, she will use her powers of seduction to lure Cye of Torrent away from the others and finish him off once and for all with her kiss of death!"

"That could work, Lady Dulcea," Devaki muttered thoughtfully as he looked up at Dulcea.

"That would take care of Cye of Torrent... but what about the kokoro of water, Torrent?" Dulcea asked curiously.

"The Nereid has some special pets that will deal with the kokoro of water, Lady Dulcea, and anyone else who chooses to stand in our way," Torrent explained.

"I want you to put this plan of yours into action immediately, Torrent," Dulcea ordered.

"Right away, Lady Dulcea," Torrent agreed as both he and the Nereid quickly bowed to Dulcea before turning around and leaving the throne room...

"Clara, since we both get out of tryouts around the same time today, do you think that we could walk home together?" Cye suggested as he and Clara walked down the street to meet up with Kento and Kim.

"I don't see why not," Clara replied before they reached Kim's house, where their two friends were waiting for them.

"What were you two lovebirds doing? Building a nest?" Kim retorted loudly.

"Come on! Let's move!" Kento added a bit impatiently.

"Since when are you in such a hurry to go to school, Kento?" Cye asked suspiciously.

"I'm in no hurry. It's just that I hate waiting as much as I hate school!" Kento pointed out.

"Well, then, your waiting ends now, Kento. Let's go," Cye announced.

Before the four friends even took a step, they heard a girl's voice shout, "Hey! Wait up!"

Cye, Clara, Kento, and Kim turned around and saw a teenage girl around their age running towards them. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes, and she was wearing a simple white dress with gold trim, a gold charm bracelet on her left wrist, and white tennis shoes.

"What's wrong?" Kento asked curiously as the girl stopped running and took in a few deep breaths.

"Would you happen to be heading towards Han'a High School?" the girl asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Why you ask?" Kim remarked.

"Well, it's my first day, and I'm not exactly sure how to get there," the girl explained.

"No problem. You can walk with us," Clara replied. "We're all going the same way."

"Thank you," the girl replied as they started walking down the street. "Oh, by the way, my name's Elena. I just arrived here this weekend from Greece."

"Greece? What part?" Clara asked curiously.

"Oh... just this little town called Piraeus, bordering the Sea of Crete," Elena replied. "What about the rest of you?"

"I'm Cye, and this is Clara, Kento, and Kim," Cye introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Elena admitted with a small smile. She looked up and noticed a teenage boy and girl standing at the street corner ahead of them, both with long black hair and red sweaters. "Who are they?"

"Those are our friends, Ryo and Rita," Cye explained as they reached the street corner.

"Hey, guys," Ryo greeted.

"Who's the new girl?" Rita asked curiously.

"This is Elena," Clara introduced. "She moved here from Greece."

"Nice to meet you," Elena admitted.

"Same here, Elena," Ryo admitted as the group of seven headed down the main road leading to the high school.

"We should definitely warn her about Sage!" Kento suggested jokingly.

"Why? Who is this Sage?" Elena asked curiously.

"Only the biggest flirt I've ever seen!" Kim retorted.

"That's an understatement, Kim!" Kento remarked.

"I guess I'll have to be the judge of that," Elena muttered out loud as they approached another street corner, where Sage, Rowen, Sandra, and Roxie were waiting.

"Good morning, everyone," Roxie greeted as her six friends and Elena approached them.

"Good morning, Roxie. Everyone, this is Elena from Greece. Elena, these are our friends: Sage, Rowen, Sandra, and Roxie," Clara introduced.

"Nice to meet you all," Elena replied.

As the group of eleven continued down the main road, Sage asked curiously, "So... Elena, did you ever get the chance to see Toyama?"

"No, not yet. I've been busy unpacking over the weekend," Elena revealed.

"Well, perhaps I can give you a private tour after school," Sage suggested.

"I'm afraid I can't. I still have more unpacking to do," Elena replied.

"How about tomorrow, then?" Sage asked.

"I can't. I'm busy tomorrow night," Elena muttered out loud.

"What about the day after tomorrow?" Sage asked.

"Geez, Sage! Give it a rest already!" Sandra retorted loudly. "Can't you tell that she's not interested?"

"How can you be so sure, Sandra?" Sage asked.

"Actually, your friend's right. I'm not interested in going out with someone right now," Elena revealed. "I was just telling you off politely."

"Well, why not?" Sage prodded.

"Well, being from a small town, I don't take kindly to chauvinistic boys!" Elena retorted loudly, causing Sage to turn red in the face.

"Wow! She sure put you in your place, Casanova!" Kento teased with a quick laugh as Han'a High School came into view...

"See you tomorrow, Elena," Cye announced as Elena walked past him and Clara.

"Goodbye, Cye! Goodbye, Clara!" Elena shouted. She watched Cye and Clara enter their homes before continuing down the street. Elena soon stopped walking when she heard a faint noise from the forest bordering the side of the street.

"What do you want?" she asked a bit rudely as Torrent stepped out from behind a large tree and joined her on the street.

"You're taking quite some time to finish off Cye of Torrent. I'm not paying you to take your time with this!" Torrent pointed out sternly.

"Relax, Torrent. Cye of Torrent will eventually meet his demise, but it's going to take some time," Elena replied.

"And why is that?" Torrent asked suspiciously.

"From what I observed in the past few days, Cye of Torrent's love for the kokoro of water is very deep and strong. It would be extremely difficult to lead him into my trap, unless he was alone," Elena explained. "I promise you, Torrent, by the end of this week, Cye of Torrent and the kokoro of water will no longer be a threat to you or Lady Dulcea."

"I want action, not promises!" Torrent shouted angrily.

"If you want action, Torrent, you'll get it," Elena muttered icily. "If you wish to witness the demise of Cye of Torrent, I suggest you go to Onaruto Bay this Friday around sunset."

"I'll be there. You best not fail, or I can promise you that Dulcea will have both of our heads!" Torrent warned Elena...

"All right, girls. You ready?" a young woman asked the eight teenage girls preparing to dive into the school's pool. The female coach had her dirty blonde hair up in a ponytail and was wearing white sneakers, black pants, and a maroon T-shirt with HAN'A HIGH DRAGONS printed on the front and GIRLS' SWIM TEAM on the back in gold letters.

Besides the coach and the girls trying out for the swim team, there was a small audience in the bleachers. The eight girls, who were all dressed in one-piece maroon bathing suits and gold bathing caps, including Clara, all nodded their heads as they knelt down and got into position. There were thirty-two more girls sitting on the bench, also wearing identical bathing suits and bathing caps.

"Remember, four laps across the length of the pool done freestyle. And... go!" the coach shouted before blowing her whistle.

Upon hearing the whistle, the six girls dove into the pool and swam across the length of the pool using the freestyle stroke. Once they reached the other end of the pool, the girls flipped around underwater and swam back to the other side. They repeated the process two more times until they reached the last length of the race.

"Nice job, ladies," the coach replied as the girls finished the race and climbed out of the pool one by one. "Good practice meet, everyone. I will have the final cuts posted by my office door on Monday. Those that made the final cut, I will see you at Monday's practice. That's all for today."

"Thank you, Coach Hagen," all forty girls chorused as they grabbed their towels and headed to the girls' locker room, while the group of people in the bleachers started to leave. Clara was patting her face dry with her towel when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and smiled when she saw Cye standing there.

"Hey, Cye. I'd hug you, but I would end up getting your clothes all wet," Clara confessed with a slight giggle as she tied the towel around her waist. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, basketball practice finished up early. I got here just in time to watch that last race you were in, Clara," Cye confessed as they walked towards the girls' locker room together. They never noticed Elena, who had stayed behind in the now empty pool area.

After making certain that no one was watching her, Elena walked to the edge of the pool while removing a small glass bottle from her pocket. She knelt down, pulled the cork out of the bottle, and poured the clear liquid into the pool. Once the bottle was emptied, a pair of large eerie blue eyes glowed in the pool for a few moments. Elena chuckled sinisterly to herself as the glowing eyes faded away into the water.

"Now, to add the bait." Elena stood up, removed the charm bracelet from her left wrist, and tossed it into the deep end of the pool. After hearing the sound of her bracelet hitting the water's surface, Elena headed towards the girls' locker room, where she found Cye and Clara standing right outside the locker room door.

"Oh, Clara! Thank goodness I found you!" Elena exclaimed as she approached Clara and Cye. "I have a huge favor to ask."

"What is it, Elena?" Clara asked curiously.

"Well, I was watching your practice meet earlier and, on my way out of the pool area, I slipped on some water," Elena explained.

"Oh, my goodness! Are you all right?" Clara asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm fine, Clara. Thanks for asking. When I got up, I noticed I was missing my charm bracelet," Elena continued as she showed Cye and Clara her now- empty left wrist. "I think it might have fallen in the pool. And I was wondering, since you're still in your bathing suit, Clara..."

"If I could check the pool for your bracelet?" Clara finished.

"Yeah. Could you, please?" Elena begged.

"Of course, I will, Elena," Clara replied as she turned to Cye. "Cye, how about you stop at my house, pick up the food I prepared, and head to our usual spot at Onaruto Bay? I'll meet you there."

"All right, then," Cye reluctantly agreed. "I'll see you later, Clara." Cye gave Clara a quick kiss on her cheek before heading for the school's exit. Clara smiled a bit as she watched Cye leave the school.

"Come on, Clara. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can get back to your boyfriend," Elena announced as she grabbed Clara's wrist and pulled her into the pool area.

"Okay, Elena. Show me where you slipped. That'll give me an idea where to look for your bracelet," Clara requested.

"It was right around... here," Elena muttered out loud as she led Clara towards the deep end of the pool.

Clara knelt down next to the edge of the pool and looked down at the water. Her eyes widened slightly when she spotted something on the bottom of the pool. "I think I see it, Elena," Clara announced as she removed her towel from around her waist. "Could you hold this for me?"

"Of course," Elena agreed as she took the towel from Clara.

"I'll be right back with your bracelet, Elena," Clara replied before jumping into the water.

After taking in a deep breath, Clara dove underwater and swam towards the bottom of the pool. She soon found Elena's charm bracelet, grabbed it with her hand, and started to ascend back up to the surface.

Before Clara even got halfway there, she felt something wrap around her legs, preventing her from reaching the surface. She looked down, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. As Clara tried once again to swim to the surface of the pool, she could feel the unseen enemy coil around her waist all the way up to her neck. The invisible coils started to tighten, causing Clara to lose her breath. Clara closed her eyes, believing that if something didn't happen soon, she would drown.

All of a sudden, she felt herself being quickly pulled back to the surface. As she broke the surface of the water, Clara took in a deep gasp of air. She hesitantly opened her eyes and gasped loudly out of shock. She was being held about ten feet above the pool by a giant serpent made entirely of water.

"Elena! Get out of here!" Clara shouted to Elena, who was looking up at her.

A small smirk played across Elena's face as she remarked sinisterly, "Why should I, Clara? Things are just getting interesting!"

"What?" Clara gasped.

"I see you met my pet water weird, Clara. It'll be the last thing you'll ever see!" Elena boasted.

"This is...inhuman!" Clara shouted as she struggled to break out of the water weird's grasp.

"That's because I'm not even human, Clara," Elena revealed. "Like my water weird here, I'm a creature of the water myself."

"Why are you doing this to me, Elena?" Clara asked.

"Nothing personal, Clara. Just doing my job," Elena replied nonchalantly.

"And who hired you? Torrent, perhaps?" Clara demanded.

"Of course, he did, Clara. Speaking of Torrent, I better get to Onaruto Bay to finish the job," Elena revealed.

Clara gasped out loud when she realized what Elena was going to do. "Leave Cye alone, Elena!"

"And how do you plan on stopping me when you can't even save yourself?" Elena asked sarcastically as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You'll never get away with this!" Clara proclaimed.

"We'll see about that. But, don't worry yourself too much, Clara. You'll see Cye again... in the next world!" Elena retorted sarcastically as she snapped her fingers. Instantly, the water weird started sinking back down into the water, with Clara still in its watery coils. Elena chuckled evilly to herself as she left the pool area...

"Come on, Sandra," Ryo muttered to himself as he impatiently tapped his foot on the wall he was leaning against. He was waiting outside of the girls' locker room for Sandra to emerge. Ryo and Sandra had volunteered to put away the soccer equipment after their home game ended, so they were the last ones to leave.

A couple of minutes later, the door to the girls' locker room opened, and Sandra walked out, back in her regular clothes. "Ryo, you didn't need to wait for me," Sandra pointed out.

"I don't mind, Sandra. I just didn't want you to walk home all by yourself," Ryo replied.

"Well, I can see why Rita likes you so much!" Sandra teased, causing Ryo to blush slightly. "Ryo, you haven't seen Clara 'round, have ya?"

"No, not recently, Sandra. Why do you ask?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Well, Clara's clothes and stuff are still in the locker room," Sandra explained. "So, unless she left wearing nothing but a wet bathing suit, I'd wager she's still here."

"I don't understand why Clara would still be here. Practice for the swim team ended long before our soccer game did," Ryo muttered thoughtfully.

"Maybe she's staying after to put in a few extra laps?" Sandra guessed.

"Hmm...maybe you're right, Sandra," Ryo agreed.

"Look, since we're gonna cut across the pool area anyway, why don't we pop in and say hi?" Sandra suggested.

"Why not?" Ryo agreed as he and Sandra headed for the door leading to the indoor pool. They were a bit surprised when they didn't see their friend swimming in the pool.

"Clara? Where are you, Clara?" Ryo shouted as he and Sandra walked across the large room, his voice echoing off the walls slightly.

As they reached the other side of the pool, Sandra glanced at the water and gasped loudly, freezing in her tracks.

"Sandra, what's wrong?" Ryo asked curiously when he realized that Sandra had suddenly stopped walking.

"R-R-Ryo?" Sandra stuttered nervously.

"What is it, Sandra? What's wrong?" Ryo asked as he approached Sandra.

"Please tell me I'm seeing things!" Sandra whispered quickly as she pointed down at the water in the deep end of the pool. Ryo looked down to see what Sandra was pointing at and gasped loudly out of shock when he saw Clara's lifeless body lying on the bottom of the pool.

"Clara!" Ryo shouted.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ryo dove into the pool and descended down to the pool's tile floor. He scooped Clara up in his arms and made a beeline for the surface. Ryo never noticed the pair of glowing blue eyes that briefly appeared in the deep waters.

Sandra let out a sigh of relief when Ryo broke the surface of the water with Clara. Using one arm to keep Clara's head above water, Ryo used his free hand and feet to swim back to the edge of the pool.

"Sandra, help me out," Ryo requested. Sandra quickly bent down and grabbed Clara's arms. She pulled Clara out of the pool, while Ryo pushed.

"How is she holding out?" Ryo asked as he pulled himself out of the pool and joined Sandra.

"She's breathing, at least," Sandra replied solemnly. She and Ryo could clearly hear Clara taking in shallow breaths of air. "I don't understand this, Ryo. Clara's an excellent swimmer. How could she nearly drown?"

"I don't get it either, Sandra. Maybe she slipped and hit her head on the diving board or something," Ryo suggested.

"Yeah... maybe," Sandra muttered thoughtfully.

As Sandra and Ryo were talking, Clara opened her eyes slightly. She could see the water weird that nearly killed her coming out of the pool, apparently getting ready to attack her friends.

"Ryo... Sandra... look out..." Clara whispered weakly.

"Huh?" Ryo and Sandra gasped loudly as they looked up and saw the giant serpent made entirely of water.

"What the blazes is that thing?" Sandra asked to no one in particular.

"I have no idea," Ryo replied. The water weird glared at the three friends with its glowing blue eyes for a few moments before it started to move back slightly.

"Look out!" Ryo shouted as the water weird dove right at them. He quickly scooped up Clara in his arms and jumped out of the way, while Sandra leapt in the opposite direction, barely avoiding the strange creature's attack. The water weird let out a strange hissing noise as it flung its tail at Sandra like a whip.

"Ryo, help!" Sandra screamed as the water weird's tail wrapped tightly around her waist and lifted her up in the air.

"Hold on, Sandra!" Ryo shouted. He quickly propped the semiconscious Clara in the corner of the room before running off to help Sandra.

"Let her go, you slippery snake!" Ryo demanded as he threw a punch at the water weird.

"What the...?" Ryo gasped when he realized that his entire arm went through the creature's watery body, yet the water weird didn't even flinch. He tried throwing a few more punches and kicks at the water weird, but he ended up getting the same results as before.

"This is impossible! How can I fight something that's made out of water?" Ryo wondered aloud.

"Stand back, Ryo. I got an idea," Sandra announced as she squirmed around slightly in the water weird's tight coils.

"But, Sandra..." Ryo started to protest.

"Just do it already!" Sandra interrupted.

"All right, Sandra," Ryo reluctantly agreed as he hesitantly took a few steps back. He watched as Sandra closed her eyes and concentrated.

"THUNDER STRIKE!" Sandra shouted. The water weird let out a haunting howl as its body became enveloped in a blanket of electricity. The creature released one last pain-filled screech before it melted into a small puddle on the tile floor.

"Sandra, are you okay?" Ryo asked as he quickly ran to Sandra's side.

"I'm fine now, Ryo," Sandra replied as she stood up with Ryo's help.

"That was incredible, Sandra!" Ryo confessed.

"Thanks, Ryo. Now I know why they say water and electricity don't mix!" Sandra remarked. Just then, Ryo and Sandra heard a soft moan coming from Clara.

"How you holding out, Clara?" Sandra asked as she and Ryo ran to Clara's side.

"I'm fine, but we need to get to Onaruto Bay right away. Cye's in great danger!" Clara revealed as she struggled to stand up.

"What's going on, Clara?" Ryo asked suspiciously as he and Sandra helped Clara to her feet.

"There's no time to explain it. We must go now!" Clara insisted.

"All right, Clara, but first, let's get you out of that wet suit," Sandra suggested as she and Ryo helped Clara walk out of the pool area...

"That ought to do it," Cye muttered to himself as he smoothed out the beach blanket on the grass. Just then, he heard soft footsteps approaching him from behind him.

"You're ten minutes late. I was about to call a search party," Cye joked as he turned around. He was surprised to see Elena standing there.

"Elena! What an unexpected surprise," Cye confessed as he stood up. "Where's Clara?"

"That's part of why I'm here. Turns out Clara's gonna be later than she expected. The swim team couch wanted to talk to her, and Clara asked me to tell you that," Elena explained.

"I see," Cye replied. He looked down and noticed that Elena's left wrist was still empty. "So, Clara had no luck finding your bracelet, huh?"

"Afraid not," Elena replied solemnly. "Clara guessed that it might have got sucked up into the filtering system, or maybe it didn't land in the pool, like I thought. When school starts again on Monday, I'm gonna check the Lost and Found and see if anyone turned it in."

"Good luck with that, Elena," Cye replied.

Elena nodded in response and looked out at Onaruto Bay. "That's an amazing view, Cye. It kinda reminds me of the Sea of Crete back home."

"Oh, really?" Cye asked curiously.

"It sure does. It also reminds me of this song my mom used to sing to me when I was little. But, you probably don't want to hear it," Elena revealed.

"What makes you think that?" Cye prodded.

"I better not, Cye. I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time," Elena confessed.

"Come on, Elena. Don't be shy. I'm not going to critique you or anything. Let me hear you sing," Cye insisted as he sat down on the beach blanket.

"Well... okay," Elena hesitantly replied as she took a moment to clear her throat and started to belt out a lovely tune. Cye soon found himself strangely entranced by the intoxicating melody.

Elena stopped singing the single note and looked into Cye's green eyes. She smirked slightly when she recognized the vacant glazed-over look in Cye's eyes.

"It worked. I knew that even someone as devoted as Cye would succumb to my powers," Elena muttered out loud. "Stand up." Cye immediately did what he was told, as though he was in a trance.

"That's a good Ronin Warrior. Now, come closer," Elena instructed, gesturing with her finger for Cye to come closer. Cye slowly took three steps towards Elena, now face-to-face with her.

"I'll have to admit, she's very good," Torrent confessed, who was watching the events unfold from behind a nearby tree, wearing his sub-armor. "If she succeeds, perhaps we can use her to rid us of the other Ronin Warriors!"

"I hope you enjoy this kiss, Cye, cause it will be your last," Elena whispered into Cye's ear.

Before Elena could kiss the spellbound Ronin Warrior, she heard a familiar voice shout, "Get away from him, Elena!"

Elena turned around and sneered angrily when she saw Clara standing there. "So, you're alive. How did you manage to escape from my water weird?"

"I had some help from my friends," Clara revealed as Sandra and Ryo, who was in his sub-armor, caught up with her.

"Doesn't matter, anyway. I'd rather destroy you myself!" Elena announced as she narrowed her green eyes. Ryo, Sandra, and Clara gasped loudly out of shock when Elena spat out a steady stream of steaming red liquid at them.

"Run for it!" Ryo shouted to Clara and Sandra. As the two girls quickly ran out of the way, Ryo did a backwards somersault in order to avoid the strange liquid. Unfortunately, a few drops of the red liquid struck Ryo's chest plate as he landed back on the ground.

"What the?" Ryo gasped when he noticed the singe marks left on his sub-armor from the strange liquid. "Sandra, Clara, watch it! That stuff's poison!"

"Now, this is starting to get interesting," Torrent murmured to himself as he continued to watch.

"Cye, please help us!" Clara shouted to Cye, who was just standing there.

"Ha, ha, ha! Nice try, Clara, but your little boyfriend can't hear you! He's under my control now!" Elena boasted darkly with a sinister laugh.

"No! I don't believe you! Cye, wake up!" Clara shouted as she ran towards him.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Elena shouted as she spat a stream of venom at Clara. Before Clara could reach Cye, the venom struck the ground just inches away from her. However, the force of the venom's impact managed to knock Clara down on her back.

"Now to finish you off," Elena muttered out loud as she slowly approached Clara.

"Clara, hold on!" Sandra shouted as she and Ryo ran over to try and stop Elena.

"Not so fast, you two!" Elena announced as she took a glass bottle out of her pocket and threw it in Ryo and Sandra's direction. Ryo and Sandra quickly came to a stop as the glass bottle hit the ground just a few yards away from them, breaking in the process.

"What's that stuff?" Sandra asked curiously as she pointed at the clear liquid from the bottle, which appeared to be moving.

"You don't suppose it's another one of those water weird things, do you?" Ryo asked suspiciously. As though to answer Ryo's question, the puddle of liquid quickly took the form of another large water weird.

"Oy! Not another one!" Sandra complained loudly as the water weird dove at them.

"My water weird will finish off your friends, Clara, while I take care of you," Elena admitted sinisterly as she continued walking towards Clara, who was backing away from her.

"Oh, no!" Clara gasped when she realized she reached the edge of the small cliff.

"Looks like you ran out of room, Clara!" Elena remarked with a clever laugh. "This is going to be too easy!" Elena stretched her arms out towards Clara, intent on pushing her off the cliff. Before she could even touch Clara, Elena was surprised when someone grabbed her from behind. She turned her head around and gasped when she saw that it was Cye in his sub-armor.

"Cye, you're awake!" Clara exclaimed happily.

"I'm afraid that this is all a big misunderstanding, Cye," Elena tried to convince Cye.

"Save it, Elena!" Cye interrupted. "Here's a little news flash for you: I might have been under your control, but I was fully aware of everything that was going on around me."

Elena glared angrily at Cye with her burning green eyes. "So what? Just because you know my plans, Cye of Torrent, it won't save you or your friends!"

"What?" Cye gasped as Elena's body completely liquefied and fell through his hands into a large puddle at his feet. As the puddle moved away from him, Cye turned his attention to Clara.

"Are you all right, Clara?" Cye asked with concern as he helped Clara stand up.

"Yes, I'm fine, Cye. I'm so glad that whatever Elena did to you wasn't permanent," Clara confessed. She looked at the moving puddle of water that was once Elena.

"That just gave me an idea. Hey, Sandra! I need you to attack Elena when I say to!" Clara shouted to Sandra.

"I'll try, Clara, but I'm a little busy at the moment!" Sandra muttered through clenched teeth as she jumped out of the way of the water weird's swinging tail.

"And how do you plan on destroying me, Clara?" Elena asked sarcastically as she returned to her physical form.

"You'll see soon enough, Elena," Clara announced. "TIDAL WAVE!" Elena didn't seem at all intimidated by the massive wave of water heading towards her and crashed down on her.

"I don't believe it! It didn't even faze her!" Cye gasped out of shock when he saw that Elena was completely drenched, but still standing.

"Was that your ingenious plan to destroy me, Clara?" Elena asked sarcastically. "You seem to have forgotten what I told you earlier about the water being my element as well."

"Far from it, Elena. That was just phase one," Clara revealed as she looked over at Sandra. "Now, Sandra!"

"All right, Clara!" Sandra shouted. "THUNDER STRIKE!"

"AHHH!" Elena screamed loudly out of pain as her body became engulfed in electricity. Cye and Clara watched as Elena's body once again turned into a puddle of water, only this time, the water evaporated into the air.

"Yes, it worked!" Clara cheered.

"Look! The same thing's happening to the water weird!" Sandra announced as she pointed at the water weird in front of her and Ryo, who was screeching loudly in pain as it shriveled down into a puddle of water and evaporated away.

"Nice job, Clara! Your plan worked like a charm!" Sandra admitted as she and Ryo joined Cye and Clara. Suddenly, Clara moaned slightly out of pain.

"Clara, are you sure you're all right?" Cye asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Cye. I'm just a little bit tired," Clara whispered.

"It was probably from that other water weird that nearly drowned you in the school's pool," Sandra pointed out.

"What?" Cye exclaimed.

"Relax, Cye. I'm okay," Clara tried to reassure Cye.

"Maybe I should have stayed at the school with you, Clara," Cye replied solemnly. "If I did wait for you instead of heading out here, none of this would have happened."

"Cye, don't blame yourself, all right? No one saw this coming," Clara told Cye. "If anyone is to blame for this, it's Dulcea."

"Clara's right, Cye," Ryo pointed out. "It's getting kinda late. We should all get going."

"You're right, Ryo," Cye agreed. "I'm going to take Clara home so she can rest."

"I won't argue with that!" Clara admitted with a small smile.

As the four friends left the small cliff, Torrent peered at them from behind the tree. "It appears I have misjudged the kokoro's strength," Torrent muttered to himself as he watched the four friends leave. "Two kokoro teaming up like that is even more dangerous than fighting one of them. I can only imagine how powerful they would become if all five kokoro fought together. I see now why Dulcea's so determined on getting rid of them, along with the Ronin Warriors. Speaking of Dulcea, she won't be pleased to learn that the Nereid had failed." With that, Torrent teleported away from Onaruto Bay...TO BE CONTINUED


	13. Women Trouble

_**Legend of the Kokoro**_

Episode 13-Women Trouble

"Hurry it up, Kento! We're late enough as it is!" Cye complained. Ryo, Sage, Rowen, and Cye were waiting on Kento, who was pulling some money out of his wallet.

"Chill out, Cye!" Kento retorted as he paid the snack vendor, who handed him a hot dog smothered in sauerkraut.

"I don't know about the other girls, but I definitely know that Kim's gonna give us all a lot of lip for being late," Sage remarked.

"All we have to do is tell Kim that Kento's the reason we're late meeting them at the park, and she'll direct all of her anger towards him!" Cye pointed out. Kento gave Cye a dirty look as he took a bite out of his hot dog.

Sage looked over at Ryo, who was walking down the sidewalk with a broad smile on his face. "Hey, Ryo, what are you so happy about?"

"Nothing, Sage. It's just that, well…I feel that everything's been going my way recently," Ryo openly confessed as he turned his head around to look at his friends. "I'm finally captain of the soccer team, and I have a great girlfriend at my side. Nothing can go wrong now."

"Ryo, look out!" Rowen shouted. Ryo turned his head, but it was too late as he ran into a young woman that was in his path.

"Oh, geez! I'm so sorry, miss," Ryo quickly apologized as he scrambled to pick up the papers that the woman had dropped, never bothering to look up.

"Ryo?" a familiar voice asked. Ryo froze for a few seconds, and then slowly looked up. He gasped loudly when he recognized the young woman with waist-length red hair and bright blue eyes.

"Mia?" Ryo gasped loudly out of shock.

"Ryo, it's so good to see you again!" Mia exclaimed happily as she embraced Ryo, never noticing the slightly panicked look in his blue eyes.

"Uh…same here, Mia," Ryo eventually got out as Mia let go of him.

"Hi, Mia. It's nice seeing you again," Cye confessed as Mia and Ryo stood up.

"Yeah, same here. What brings you back here to Toyama, Mia?" Sage asked curiously.

"Well, when I first moved to California, there were certain pieces I wanted to take with me, but due to the immigration laws in the United States, I couldn't bring them with me at the time. But now, I have the necessary paperwork to bring them back with me," Mia explained.

"What kind of pieces?" Kento prodded curiously.

"Just some pieces of furniture from the house and what was left of my grandfather's collection of samurai armor," Mia described. "By the way, did you ever figure out the significance of those rings I sent you?"

"We sure did, Mia," Rowen replied. "It turns out the rings were connected to a legend about these spirits called the kokoro. These kokoro were apparently responsible for giving our armors their unique powers, their individual kanjis, and even their weapons."

"That sounds incredible, Rowen. Whatever happened to these kokoro?" Mia asked curiously.

"According to the legend, the kokoro would be reborn into five humans. We found out that this part of the legend came true. Matter of fact, we're on our way to meet the girls right now," Cye revealed.

"You found all five of them so quickly? That's amazing! I would like to meet them for myself, when I get the chance to," Mia admitted.

"Well, why don't you come with us now, Mia?" Kento asked.

"That is, if you're not busy," Sage added.

"Well, I do need to turn these papers into the storage warehouse, where they're keeping the furniture and armors for me, but I suppose I could always do that later today," Mia replied.

"That's great, Mia. We better get moving. We're already late with meeting the girls at the park," Rowen pointed out as the group of six started to walk along the sidewalk, with Ryo taking up the rear…

"So, what does our fearless leader have planned for us today?" Hardrock asked sarcastically as Wildfire entered the room with a smug look on his face.

"You'll soon find out for yourself, Hardrock. I have a plan to destroy all five Ronin Warriors in one shot," Wildfire announced.

"Oh, really?" Strata asked nonchalantly.

"Let's hear this brilliant plan of yours," Torrent replied.

"I found out through my telepathic link with Ryo of Wildfire that an old friend of theirs has arrived in town, known as Mia Coji. Seeing Mia again has reawakened some memories for him, and one of them has proven to be very useful to me," Wildfire explained.

"So, what's the deal, Wildfire?" Hardrock asked impatiently.

"There was one memory from when Talpa first invaded the mortal world. When Talpa's Warlord of Cruelty, Anubis, attacked the Ronins, they used something called the Circle of Light to protect Mia and a young boy from harm. What I found out about this Circle is that when it's in use, it absorbs the powers of the Ronins' armors, so they wouldn't be able to call upon it in battle," Wildfire explained.

"So…that would make them weak and unable to stand a chance against all of us!" Halo realized.

"That sounds like a good plan in theory, Wildfire, but you're forgetting about one thing: the kokoro," Strata pointed out.

"He's right, Wildfire. What about them?" Torrent asked.

"Relax, I'm getting to that. From what I learned about this Circle of Light, only the Ronin Warriors or the Ancient can break it. The Ronins will be too busy fighting us to call off the Circle, and the Ancient happens to be dead," Wildfire explained. "When it comes to the kokoro, all we have to do is trick the Ronins into encasing them in the Circle with Mia. Even with the powers they have developed thus far, the kokoro won't be able to call off the Circle, so they won't be able to interfere."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hardrock asked loudly as he stood up.

"We should strike now when they least expect it," Torrent added sinisterly.

"The Ronins are heading to Toyama Park with Mia to meet the kokoro as we speak. They'll never know what hit them," Wildfire confessed darkly…

"I hope Ryo gets here soon! I'm getting bored!" Sandra complained as she continued to bounce her soccer ball back and forth on her knees. The five girls were waiting in Toyama Park for Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen to show up. While Sandra was practicing by herself, Rita, Clara, Kim, and Roxie were sitting on a nearby picnic table.

Roxie briefly glanced at her watch and announced with a deep sigh, "It's been over fifteen minutes now."

"I don't understand what could be taking them so long," Rita wondered out loud.

"How much ya wanna bet that Kento just had to stop somewhere and get a snack?" Sandra asked a bit sarcastically as she kneed the soccer ball high in the air and bounced it off of her forehead a couple of times before catching it in her hands.

"For Kento's sake, that better not be the case!" Kim retorted as she slammed her fist into her other hand.

"Relax, everyone. Here they come now," Clara announced as she pointed at six figures approaching them from the other side of the park. Rita, Sandra, Kim, and Roxie looked up in the direction Clara was pointing and could clearly see Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen walking towards them, accompanied by an older woman that they didn't recognize with long red hair and blue eyes.

"Who's that woman?" Roxie asked curiously.

"Don't know. I've never seen her before," Rita whispered as the five teenage boys and the woman approached them. "Hey, Ryo. What kept you guys so long?"

"Oh, umm…we ran into an old friend of ours," Ryo replied. "Mia, this is Rita, Sandra, Clara, Kim, and Roxie. Girls, this is our friend, Mia Coji."

"Mia Coji? It's an honor to meet you, Mia. The guys have told us a lot about you," Roxie confessed. "You were the one responsible for bringing the Ronin Warriors together and for bringing us together as well."

"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. The Ronin Warriors were the ones who found you, not me," Mia admitted.

"True, but if you didn't send them the rings, they wouldn't have found out about us," Roxie pointed out.

"Ryo, are ya ready to practice now?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, sure, Sandra. Let's go," Ryo replied as he and Sandra ran a short distance away from the others so they would have some room to practice.

"So, Ryo, before we start practicing, I wanted to run some plays by ya first," Sandra explained as she dropped the soccer ball on the ground and held it in place with her foot. "Ya see, I'm not sure if the rules in soccer here differ from the ones back in Ireland, and I don't want to risk being disqualified during a game. So, I was wondering, since you're more familiar with the rules in Japan than I am, if ya could tell me whether I can use these moves or not." To Sandra's surprise, Ryo wasn't paying attention to her. His blue eyes were focused back on the picnic table, particularly on Mia.

"Ryo? Hey, Ryo!" Sandra shouted, snapping Ryo back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Sandra. What was that?" Ryo asked as he looked back at her.

"Ryo, is there something wrong?" Sandra asked curiously. "Don't forget, I'm your friend. You can tell me."

"It's nothing, Sandra. It's just that I'm still a bit…stunned by seeing Mia again," Ryo muttered out loud.

"I know this is probably none of me business, but…did ya two used to date?" Sandra prodded.

"No, of course not! What made you think that, Sandra?" Ryo asked suspiciously.

"Well, from what I saw, ya seem a bit more shocked about Mia's visit than the others. So, I just assumed that maybe there was once something going on between ya two, that maybe ya two were more than just friends," Sandra explained.

"Well…I'm not exactly sure…" Ryo reluctantly confessed. "We never actually dated…but I felt something towards Mia and I think she felt the same way about me. After Mia moved to California, we didn't talk much about it."

"That's nothin' to be ashamed 'bout, Ryo," Sandra replied. "Everyone gets a crush on someone every now and then."

"The thing is, Sandra, I'm not entirely sure, Sandra. Since we haven't talked in a few months, I don't know if Mia still, umm…" Ryo trailed off.

"Oh, I get it. You're mostly worried 'bout what Rita would think of this, eh?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Yeah, I am. I love Rita so much and I don't want to lose her, Sandra. You know that I would never hurt her intentionally, right?" Ryo asked curiously.

"I know that, Ryo. You're not that type of person," Sandra told him.

"So…what do I do, Sandra?" Ryo asked.

"Ya can't expect me to answer something like that for ya, Ryo," Sandra replied.

"Well, any advice, at least?" Ryo prodded.

"First of all, ya gotta ask yaself: who do ya love more, Rita or Mia? Also, ya gotta find out what Mia thinks 'bout all this. If she still has feelings towards ya, then there's going to be a big problem, but either way, ya gotta work this out for yaself, Ryo," Sandra explained.

"Yeah, you're right, Sandra," Ryo reluctantly agreed.

"We better get to practicing, otherwise our friends might get suspicious," Sandra suggested.

"Yeah, let's go," Ryo replied as Sandra kicked the soccer ball towards him…

"I wonder what they're talking about," Mia pondered out loud when she noticed that Ryo and Sandra were just standing there, talking to each other. She was sitting at the picnic table with Sage, Cye, Kento, Rowen, Rita, Clara, Kim, and Roxie.

"They're probably just discussing soccer techniques," Roxie suggested.

"Yeah, Sandra did say that she had a few questions for Ryo concerning some plays she's been wanting to try," Rita added.

"I must admit, finding out about this extension of the Ronin Warriors legend is pretty incredible," Mia openly confessed. "I had no idea that the kokoro were responsible not only for the Ronin armors' powers, but for creating their weapons as well. I always believed that the Ancient was responsible for forging those weapons."

"Speaking of which, when we received those rings in the mail, I tried a search for information on the kokoro on those disks you gave me, Mia, but there wasn't much on them. Do you happen to know why?" Rowen asked curiously.

"Well, from what I remember, the link between the kokoro and the Ronin Warriors was a new discovery made by my grandfather before Talpa and his Evil Dynasty invaded our world," Mia explained. "My grandfather was planning on researching this link even further, but then he discovered that the Dynasty was about to invade our world, and we focused our efforts on finding the Ronin Warriors instead. Unfortunately, my grandfather became one of the many victims of Talpa's invasion of our world."

"I'm so sorry to hear about that, Mia," Rita replied sympathetically. "I couldn't imagine losing my own grandfather. He's the only family I have left."

"Huh?" Sage gasped slightly when he heard a familiar faint whistling noise. "Mia, look out!" To everyone's surprise, Sage abruptly pushed Mia out of her seat, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Sage, what's the big idea?" Mia asked as she turned around to look up at Sage.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a golden arrow embedded itself into the wooden bench of the picnic table where Mia was once sitting. Rita, Clara, Kim, and Roxie gasped loudly when the arrow suddenly appeared in the picnic table's bench.

"That arrow almost hit Mia!" Rita whispered slowly as Mia hesitantly got up, her eyes fixed on the arrow.

"That looks exactly like one of your arrows, Rowen," Mia reluctantly admitted.

"You know what this means, don't you, Rowen?" Roxie asked.

"Exactly, Roxie. My evil clone, Strata, must be somewhere nearby," Rowen muttered out loud.

"Evil clone?" Mia repeated. "There's an evil clone of you, Rowen?"

"He's not the only one, Mia," Cye revealed. "There's one of each of us. We'll have to fill you in later, though. If Strata's here, then all five of them must be here. Strata knows better than to attack all five of us by himself."

"Hey, Ryo! Sandra! Come here!" Sage shouted to Ryo and Sandra. The two teenagers stopped playing and immediately rejoined their friends.

"What's up, Sage? What's the problem?" Ryo asked curiously.

"We have to leave now!" Sage insisted.

"What for?" Sandra prodded.

"Our clones are nearby, Sandra. Strata just left his calling card and almost nailed Mia with one of his arrows," Kento muttered angrily, gesturing towards the golden arrow still embedded in the wooden bench behind them.

"Are you all right, Mia?" Ryo asked out of concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, Ryo. If it wasn't for Sage's quick thinking, that arrow would have struck me," Mia replied.

"Let's see how lucky you are next time!" a familiar voice shouted.

"It's Wildfire!" Ryo muttered angrily. As if on cue, Wildfire leapt out of the nearby brush and landed next to the eleven friends, followed by Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata, all in full battle armor and with their weapons withdrawn.

"I don't believe this!" Mia gasped out of astonishment when she saw the evil Ronin clones for the first time. "They're almost exact duplicates, armors and all!"

"You have to get out of here, now! We'll hold them off!" Ryo shouted as he, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen stood ready to fight.

"All right, Ryo. Come on!" Rita shouted as she ran in the opposite direction, followed by Sandra, Clara, Kim, Roxie, and Mia.

"Whatever you creeps are up to, you won't get away with it!" Ryo proclaimed. "Ronins to arms!"

"Yeah!" Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen agreed simultaneously as the five teenage boys transformed into their sub-armor.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you gonna transform into your full armor or what?" Hardrock asked sarcastically.

"We won't need to use our armor to take care of you jerks!" Sage boasted.

"Confident, aren't you?" Halo scoffed sarcastically.

"That won't last for very long!" Hardrock shouted as he quickly dove at Kento and swung his naginata at him. To Hardrock's surprise, Kento skillfully dodged his attack and successfully punched him in the face.

_"What now, Wildfire? That woman, Mia, is fleeing with the kokoro, in case you haven't noticed!"_ Torrent asked Wildfire telepathically. _"How are you going to use her in your plan now?"_

_"Relax, Torrent. They won't be getting very far,"_ Wildfire told Torrent telepathically…

"I still can't believe that someone managed to create nearly identical clones of the Ronin Warriors, armors and all," Mia confessed as she ran across the large field of grass, along with Rita, Sandra, Clara, Kim, and Roxie.

"Yeah, well, believe it, Mia," Kim muttered out loud. Suddenly, the girls' path was blocked by six arcanes teleporting right in front of them, each armed with a spear.

"Go the other way!" Rita shouted.

"Too late for that, Rita!" Clara gasped when she turned her head and saw six more arcanes teleport behind them, each one armed with a bow and a full quiver of arrows.

"What do we do now? We're boxed in!" Roxie exclaimed loudly as the twelve arcanes slowly edged closer to the six girls.

"Yo! You ugly Sasquatch better back off if ya know what's good for youse!" Kim threatened the arcanes loudly. The arcanes didn't appear to hear her warning as they edged even closer.

"All right, then, but don't say I didn't warn ya! EARTHQUAKE!" Kim shouted as she slammed her closed fist on the ground. Almost instantly, the earth opened up underneath four of the arcanes and swallowed them up before closing up completely.

"Nice one, Kim! Now, it's my turn!" Roxie admitted as she stepped forward. "WHIRLWIND!" Mia was shocked beyond words as three more arcanes were lifted off the ground one by one by a powerful wind and were propelled clearly to the other side of the park.

"FIRE SPIN!" Rita shouted.

"THUNDER STRIKE!" Sandra shouted.

As Rita and Sandra's attacks destroyed four of the remaining six arcanes, Kim asked, "What are you waiting for, Clara? Ain't ya gonna help?"

"I would, Kim, but I'm not sure if I can help at all. All the other times I used my attack, I was always near a source of water," Clara explained.

Mia looked around and spotted a large decorative marble fountain a short distance away from them. "Will that work, Clara?" Mia asked as she pointed at the fountain.

"I think so, Mia. We'll soon find out," Clara muttered thoughtfully as she closed her eyes and focused. "TIDAL WAVE!" As she spoke, a massive wave of water rose from the distant fountain and made its way towards the six girls and the three arcanes.

The arcanes tried desperately to outrun the massive wave, but it soon crashed down on them and swept them away.

"That was…amazing!" Mia gasped slowly out of astonishment. "I had no idea that the kokoro were this powerful!" Just then, several more arcanes teleported into the park, surrounding the six girls.

"Oh, great! More uglies!" Kim complained loudly as she stood ready to fight them.

"Hold on, Kim! There's too many of them for us to fight!" Roxie protested.

"Then, what are we supposed to do, Roxie?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"Hmm…" Rita murmured thoughtfully as she looked around the surrounding area. She gasped slightly when she spotted what appeared to be an abandoned subway terminal across the street from where they stood.

"Come on! This way!" Rita shouted as she attacked an arcane blocking her way with a blast of fire. The charred arcane fell to the ground with a pain- filled moan as Rita quickly leapt over him.

"Come on, girls! Hurry!" Rita shouted as Mia, Sandra, Clara, Kim, and Roxie quickly jumped over the severely burned arcane one by one. "Which way now, Rita?" Sandra asked as the six girls ran away from the large group of arcanes, who soon gave chase.

"To the subway! Maybe we can hold them off!" Rita announced.

"I think those were General Custer's last words at Little Bighorn, Rita!" Kim retorted loudly as the six girls entered the subway terminal, with the arcanes closing in close behind them…

"Looks like you're too slow, Hardrock!" Kento remarked sarcastically as he dodged a swing from Hardrock's naginata. Hardrock growled angrily as he tried to strike Kento down.

"Huh?" Cye gasped as he held onto Torrent's trident, preventing his evil clone from choking him. He saw the girls being chased into the subway by the arcanes out of the corner of his eye. "Ryo, the girls are in trouble! They need our help!"

"All right, Cye. Ronin Warriors, let's go!" Ryo shouted as he jumped high out of Wildfire's reach, followed by Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen. All five Ronin Warriors landed a few yards away from their evil clones.

"We'll be back to finish this fight, Wildfire! And you can count on that!" Ryo shouted before he and the other Ronin Warriors ran across the park.

"Cowards! Come back here and face us!" Hardrock demanded loudly as he started to chase after the Ronin Warriors.

"Hold it, Hardrock," Wildfire stated as he held up his arm, blocking Hardrock's path.

"Why should I, Wildfire?" Hardrock demanded angrily.

"Just take it easy for a few minutes, Hardrock. This is just a small element of my plan. The Ronin Warriors will unknowingly take care of the rest," Wildfire confessed with a small smirk. "They think they'll be helping the kokoro and their friend, Mia, when the truth is that they'll be helping us make their own demise easier!" Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata snickered sinisterly as they watched the Ronin Warriors run off to help their friends…

"THUNDER STRIKE!" Sandra shouted as she threw a ball of electricity at one of the arcanes, who managed to deflect it with his spear. The six girls were completely surrounded in the subway terminal by the arcanes.

"I don't understand. It appears that your powers are getting weaker," Mia reluctantly admitted.

"It might be because the kokoro have only been revived for a few months now," Roxie suggested. "WHIRLWIND!" The wind produced from Roxie's attack only succeeded in pushing some of the arcanes back a few feet.

"Or maybe it's because we never used our powers so many times in one day!" Rita pointed out as an arcane armed with a bow came towards her. "FIRE SPIN!" The blast of fire Rita shot from her hands formed a fiery wall between her and the arcane.

_That ought to take care of that one,_ Rita thought to herself. She gasped loudly out of shock when the arcane easily passed through the wall like it was nothing.

"Ahh!" Rita screamed when the arcane struck her hard with his bow, causing her to fall on her face. As she struggled to stand up, Rita saw that the arcane was about to strike her with his bow again. Before he ever got the chance, Ryo, apparently coming out of nowhere, dropkicked the arcane to the concrete floor, knocking him unconscious.

"Ryo! You're here!" Rita exclaimed happily as Ryo approached her.

"Hey, you okay, Rita?" Ryo asked out of concern as he held his hand out to Rita.

"Yeah, I think so," Rita replied as she stood up with Ryo's help.

Upon looking around, Rita realized that Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen were also in the subway terminal, fighting off the seemingly endless army of arcanes.

"It's about time youse guys showed up!" Kim retorted loudly.

"Hey! We got here as fast as we could!" Kento shouted as he lifted one of the arcanes over his head and threw him at four more arcanes, knocking them all down. "Bowling for uglies! That's my kind of game!" Just then, several more arcanes teleported into the abandoned subway terminal.

"Aww, man! More of them?" Kento complained loudly.

"There's no end to them, Ryo! We can't possibly fight them all!" Rowen pointed out.

"We're sorry we can't help you, but our powers have become drained," Roxie apologized.

"It's okay, Roxie. No one anticipated this happening," Rowen told Roxie.

Ryo looked over at Rita and gasped slightly when he noticed a large bruise on Rita's arm where she got hit by the arcane's bow. "We have to think about the girls' safety!" Ryo announced.

"What are you saying, Ryo?" Cye asked curiously.

"We have to form the Circle, guys. That's the only way we can ensure that the girls will stay safe," Ryo explained.

"Right!" Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen agreed simultaneously as all five Ronin Warriors started running around the six girls in a circle.

"Mia, what is this Circle they're talking about?" Clara asked curiously.

"The Circle of Light is a powerful shield that will protect us from all harm," Mia explained as the Ronin Warriors suddenly stopped running.

"Circle of Light! DAO JIN!" Ryo shouted.

"JUSTICE!" Kento shouted.

"TRUST!" Cye shouted.

"WISDOM!" Sage shouted.

"LIFE!" Rowen shouted.

Suddenly, the five Ronin armors mysteriously appeared in front of each Ronin Warrior with their arms crossed in front of their chests, just like their bearers. As Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen simultaneously held their arms up straight, the armors did the same and started to glow. Just then, several colorful lines appeared and connected the five Ronin armors, forming a pentagram around the six girls. As the five teenage boys stepped out of the Circle, the arcanes abruptly turned around and ran out of the subway.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, you chickens?" Kento shouted as he, Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Rowen gave chase.

"Yo, something stinks around here, and it ain't da subway!" Kim retorted loudly. "Them pasty white uglies gave up way too easy!"

"I agree with you, Kim. Under normal circumstances, I don't believe that the arcanes would have retreated as quickly as they did," Roxie muttered thoughtfully. "Those evil Ronin clones must have something major planned for the Ronin Warriors."

"You're right, Roxie, but what could they be up to?" Clara asked curiously.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that, Clara," Roxie reluctantly admitted.

_Please be careful, Ryo,_ Rita thought to herself as she wistfully looked up at the stairs leading back up to the surface…

"Come on! We got them on the run!" Ryo shouted as he and his four friends continued chasing the arcanes across the park. Suddenly, to their surprise, the arcanes abruptly teleported away.

"Something just doesn't feel right here, Ryo. Why would those arcanes leave so quickly like that?" Rowen asked curiously.

"I'll tell you exactly why, Rowen of Strata! It's so we could finish you off!" Wildfire shouted as he, Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata teleported in front of the Ronin Warriors.

"I'd like to see you try!" Ryo shouted as he, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen once again faced off against their evil clones.

As Wildfire swung both of his katanas at Ryo, he quickly grabbed Wildfire by his wrists, preventing him from striking Ryo with the twin blades.

"What are you waiting for, Ryo of Wildfire? Why don't you and your friends call upon your armor so you would at least have a fighting chance?" A sinister smirk played across Wildfire's face as he added nonchalantly, "Oh, that's right. You can't!"

"What?" Ryo gasped out of shock, loosening his grip on Wildfire in the process. Wildfire took this opportunity to strike Ryo with his katanas, knocking him down to the ground.

"What's the matter, Ryo of Wildfire? You look surprised!" Wildfire gasped mockingly.

"You planned this whole thing, didn't you?" Ryo asked suspiciously.

"You bet I did. I knew that you and the other Ronins would call upon the Power Circle to protect your friends, but in the process, you tipped the scale of power in our favor," Wildfire admitted sinisterly.

"Not only are you pathetic Ronin Warriors now completely powerless, but you also imprisoned the kokoro in your vain attempt to protect them from us," Torrent added darkly as he struck Cye hard in the back with his trident.

"Once we destroy all five of you, the Power Circle will be broken and the kokoro will be as good as dust!" Hardrock boasted menacingly as he drove a hard blow to Kento's chest with his naginata, knocking him back into a nearby tree.

"The Ronin Warriors will soon be no more, and ironically, we have you all to thank for that!" Strata admitted darkly with a sinister little smirk as he fired a barrage of golden arrows at Rowen and Sage, causing them to cry out loudly in pain…

"Damn it!" Kim muttered out loud as she rubbed her knuckles, which were sore from punching the force field that surrounded her, Rita, Clara, Sandra, Roxie, and Mia.

"Kim, please stop it!" Clara pleaded. "All you're doing is getting yourself hurt!"

"What, you got a better idea, Clara?" Kim retorted as she turned around. "If ya got one, let's hear it!"

"Kim, calm down. Fighting is going to get us nowhere," Rita told Kim.

"Yeah, whatever," Kim grumbled under her breath.

"What about you, Mia? Do you know of a way to break this Circle?" Roxie asked curiously.

"Well, as far as I know, there's only one way the Circle can be broken, and that's if the Ronin Warriors call back their armors' power," Mia explained. "The Ancient had the ability to break the Circle, too, but he's gone now."

"Armors' powers? You mean the Ronin Warriors can't use their armor when the Circle's been activated, Mia?" Rita asked out of surprise.

"I'm afraid not, Rita," Mia reluctantly admitted. "I'll bet that's what those evil clones had planned all along," Sandra muttered thoughtfully.

"Hold up! Whatcha talking 'bout, Sandra?" Kim asked suspiciously.

"Think about it, Kim. Without being able to call on their armor, it just makes it easier for the Ronin clones to defeat the Ronin Warriors, maybe for good this time," Sandra reluctantly confessed.

"There must be something we can do to help our friends," Clara muttered out loud.

"I think I have an idea," Roxie announced.

"So, spill it, Roxie! What do ya got in mind?" Kim asked a bit impatiently.

"I was thinking…the ability to call upon the Circle of Light requires the power of all the Ronin armors, right?" Roxie asked.

"Yes, that's true," Mia replied.

"And the power of the Ronin Warriors' armor originally comes from the power of the kokoro, right?" Roxie asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, so what's your point?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"My point is that, since we currently possess the power of the kokoro inside of us, why can't we call off the Circle?" Roxie suggested.

"You know…that just might work," Mia muttered thoughtfully. "Since your powers are linked to the armors of the Ronin Warriors, then it's possible that you have the ability to break the Power Circle."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it, at least," Rita admitted. "What should we do, Roxie?"

"Give me a minute to think about it, Rita," Roxie requested as she studied the five armors standing outside of the Circle of Light. "Okay, the first thing we should do is stand perpendicular to the armors that correspond with our particular kokoro powers."

"Say that again, Roxie, in English?" Kim requested sarcastically.

"Just stand as close as you can to the armor of Hardrock, Kim," Clara remarked as she stood as close as she could to the armor of Torrent, while the other girls positioned themselves.

"Okay, so now what?" Kim asked as she stood as close as she could to the armor of Hardrock.

"Everyone, hold up your arms in the same position as the armors," Roxie instructed. Rita, Sandra, Clara, and Kim immediately did as Roxie told them.

"My theory is that if we shout out the same words that the Ronin Warriors used to create the Circle, it should deactivate the shield and return the powers of the armors back to the Ronin Warriors," Roxie explained. "In that case, Rita, you start."

"All right, Roxie," Rita agreed as she took in a deep breath. "Circle of Light! DAO JIN!"

"JUSTICE!" Kim shouted.

"TRUST!" Clara shouted.

"WISDOM!" Sandra shouted.

"LIFE!" Roxie shouted.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the armors started to glow in response and the Circle that surrounded them soon vanished.

"Yes, it worked!" Roxie cheered.

"No time for celebrating just yet, Roxie. We have to help Ryo and the other Ronin Warriors," Rita announced as she ran out of the subway terminal, followed by the other five girls…

"ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" Strata shouted as he fired a massive blast of yellow energy from his bow at Rowen.

"Ahh!" Rowen screamed out of pain as the blast of energy propelled him high up in the air. Within moments, Rowen came crashing down to the ground, barely missing Cye and Sage, who had apparently been defeated already by their evil counterparts.

"It's your turn now, Kento of Hardrock!" Hardrock remarked sinisterly as he started to spin his naginata above his head. "IRON ROCK CRUSHER!"

"No! Kento!" Ryo shouted loudly as he watched his weakened friend collapse on the ground from Hardrock's attack.

"You should be more concerned about yourself, Ryo of Wildfire!" Wildfire shouted as he leapt towards Ryo, with his katanas in hand. "FLARE UP NOW!"

"AHH!" Ryo screamed as he became engulfed in the blast of white light from Wildfire's attack. Feeling completely exhausted from the attack, Ryo fell down to his hands and knees.

"This is mere child's play!" Halo remarked sarcastically. "Without their armor's power, they're as weak as newborn kittens!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's finish them off!" Hardrock suggested a bit impatiently.

"Cool it, Hardrock! They're not going anywhere!" Torrent pointed out with a hint of venom in his voice. Suddenly, to the five evil clones' surprise, the Ronin Warriors' sub-armor started to glow brightly.

"What's going on?" Wildfire asked as he shielded his eyes, along with Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata.

"Guys, our powers…they're returning!" Cye gasped softly out of surprise as he felt his armor's original strength flowing through his body once again.

"Someone must have broken the Circle!" Sage realized as he slowly lifted up his head.

"But, how is that possible?" Rowen asked curiously as he managed to stand up, along with Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye.

"Never mind that! We have a battle to win!" Ryo reminded his four friends.

"Yeah!" Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen agreed simultaneously as all five warriors leapt high above their evil clones' heads.

"Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!"

"Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"

"Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!"

"Armor of Hardrock! DAO GI!"

"Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!"

"Looks like your brilliant plan failed miserably, Wildfire," Strata remarked sarcastically as the Ronin Warriors landed back on the ground, all in their full battle armor.

"You think I didn't notice that the Ronin Warriors have regained the use of their armor, Strata?" Wildfire asked angrily. "It doesn't matter, anyway. The Ronin Warriors have been weakened enough by fighting us without their armor. So either way you put it, they will meet their demise today!"

"Yeah!" Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata agreed enthusiastically as they charged at the Ronin Warriors.

"Let's take them down for good!" Ryo announced as he, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen withdrew their weapons as their nearly identical enemies came closer…

"Look! There they are!" Mia shouted as she pointed at some movement at the opposite side of Toyama Park. The six girls stopped running and gasped loudly when they saw the Ronin Warriors, in their full battle armor, fighting their evil Ronin clones as best as they could, but it was clearly obvious that they were struggling.

"Come on! We gotta help them out!" Kim shouted as she started to run forward.

"That's not such a good idea, Kim," Rita disagreed, causing Kim to stop in her tracks.

"What do you mean, Rita?" Kim asked suspiciously as she turned around.

"How can we help them, Kim? Our powers were drained from fighting off the arcanes back in the subway, remember?" Rita reminded Kim.

"She's right, Kim. We would only end up getting in their way," Clara added.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kim reluctantly agreed.

"I don't see Ryo anywhere. Where is he?" Mia wondered out loud.

"What? Ryo's gone?" Rita gasped loudly as she looked up and saw that the red-clad Ronin Warrior was missing.

"Wildfire's missing, too. They're probably fighting somewhere else, Rita, so don't worry yaself," Sandra reassured her friend.

"I hope you're right, Sandra. UHH!" Rita abruptly cried out in pain as she fell to her knees.

"Rita, what's wrong?" Clara asked out of concern as Rita placed her right hand on her left shoulder.

"My shoulder…it feels like it's on fire from the inside," Rita whispered as she winced from the intense pain radiating from her shoulder…

"You're gonna pay for that, Wildfire," Ryo muttered angrily through clenched teeth as he dropped to one knee and grasped at his injured left shoulder.

"You're struggling, Ryo of Wildfire. If you submit to me, I promise I won't hurt you…much," Wildfire admitted with a sinister smirk.

"I'll never give in to the likes of you!" Ryo proclaimed loudly.

Wildfire simply scoffed at Ryo's bold statement. "Yeah, whatever. Once I finish toying with you, I'll take care of that pesky kokoro friend of yours!"

"Leave Rita out of this! If you even touch her, I'll…"

"We'll just see about that, Ryo of Wildfire!" Wildfire interrupted coldly as he dove at Ryo with both katanas aimed at his throat, which were successfully blocked by Ryo's katana, being held up by his good arm…

"What could be hurting her so badly?" Sandra asked out loud, referring to Rita, who was still clenching her left shoulder in pain. "There must be something we can do to help Rita."

"It could be possible that the kokoro are still physically linked to the Ronin armors, even though they're no longer inside the armors," Mia muttered thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then the kokoro are capable of feeling the Ronin Warriors' pain and transferring them to you."

"That might be possible, Mia, but if that's the case, this is the first time it happened to any of us," Roxie revealed.

"Ryo…he's in trouble…I can feel it…" Rita mumbled weakly. Sandra, Clara, Kim, Roxie, and Mia looked down at Rita and gasped loudly out of shock.

"No…way!" Kim gasped slowly when she saw the strange red glow that had encompassed Rita's entire body. "I don't know 'bout y'all, but this is totally freaking me out!"

"Look at that! What's that on Rita's forehead?" Clara asked curiously as a red dot appeared on Rita's forehead, which soon took on the shape of a Japanese character.

"It's the symbol of Virtue. That's Ryo's kanji," Mia gasped slightly.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a female figure mysteriously appeared in front of Rita, as though she was projected from Rita's body. The strange creature, who had long fiery hair, pale white skin, and a red dress with matching slippers, was kneeling down in front of Rita with her eyes closed.

"Could it be? Is this the kokoro of fire?" Mia wondered aloud.

"It must be her. I mean, who else could it be?" Sandra asked.

Just then, the creature in question opened her eyes, which were a fiery bright red. She looked around curiously at the other girls as she warily stood up. Suddenly, the creature abruptly looked up in the other direction, as though she had heard something. To the girls' surprise, the creature took off in the air and flew towards the other end of the park, encompassed in a red light.

"Where could she be going?" Clara asked curiously.

"To help Ryo," Mia stated simply. "The kokoro of fire must have sensed that he was in trouble."

"Perhaps, Mia, but what's going to happen to Rita while she's gone?" Roxie muttered worriedly as she looked back at Rita, who was still frozen in place by the mysterious red light…

"FLARE UP NOW!" Wildfire shouted as he used his ultimate attack on Ryo once again.

"AHH!" Ryo screamed as he went flying and crashed face-first on the ground a few yards away, leaving a large hole in the ground where he had landed from the force of the impact.

Wildfire smirked sinisterly as he leapt up in the air and landed just a few feet away from Ryo. "It appears that you're all out of fight, Ryo of Wildfire."

Ryo groaned slightly as he slowly lifted his head and glared up at Wildfire as he slowly approached the fallen Ronin Warrior.

"I must admit that you were a worthy opponent, Ryo of Wildfire, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end!" Wildfire was about to plunge his swords into Ryo's exposed face when a sudden noise caused him to look up.

"What's that infernal light?" Wildfire muttered out loud when he saw a flash of red light heading towards him and Ryo. His red eyes widened out of shock when he saw the figure encased in the red light that was coming closer at an alarmingly fast rate.

"No, it's not possible!" Wildfire gasped loudly as he took a few steps back. He was shocked beyond words when the creature dove straight down towards Ryo and became absorbed into his armor through his back. Feeling completely recharged, Ryo opened his eyes and easily stood up, showing no signs of fatigue whatsoever.

"I don't believe this!" Wildfire exclaimed loudly as Ryo withdrew his katanas.

"Believe it, Wildfire," Ryo stated simply as he brought his katanas together. "FLARE UP NOW!"

"WHA-NO!" Wildfire screamed loudly as the blast of white light struck him head on, propelling him high up in the sky until he only appeared to be a tiny speck to Ryo before disappearing completely.

"Whoa! I've never felt so powerful in my life!" Ryo confessed as he looked down at his swords. "Something energized me enough to be able to fight Wildfire, but what?" Suddenly, Ryo saw that his armor was starting to glow.

"What's this?" Ryo asked himself. Just then, a figure of a pale female creature dressed in red mysteriously appeared in front of him. Ryo gasped loudly when the creature turned around to face him, for he recognized her.

"It's…its' you! You're the kokoro of fire!" Ryo slowly realized as the creature bowed down to him.

_"Yes, it is I, Ryo of Wildfire,"_ the kokoro of fire replied as she lifted her head up and looked at Ryo with her red eyes. Ryo noticed that as she spoke, the kokoro of fire's mouth didn't move at all.

"How are you talking like that?" he asked curiously.

_"We do not communicate the same way you humans do,"_ the kokoro of fire explained. _"It is a form of telepathy that all kokoro share."_

"All right…but…how did you get here?" Ryo asked.

_"I could sense that you were in danger, Ryo of Wildfire, so I left my host in order to assist you,"_ the kokoro of fire replied.

"Host?" Ryo repeated. "What are you talking about?"

_"The one that you call Rita Niitsu, she is my host,"_ the kokoro of fire explained.

"Oh…" Ryo realized.

_"I cannot stay here for long. I must go,"_ the kokoro of fire revealed.

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked curiously.

_"I am not at full strength as of yet, Ryo of Wildfire,"_ the kokoro of fire explained. _"Once I and the other kokoro are fully energized, we can leave our hosts for longer periods of time without causing any damage to them."_

"What? You mean they'll get hurt just from you leaving? I don't understand," Ryo muttered out loud.

_"The bonds between the kokoro and our hosts are both spiritual and physical, Ryo of Wildfire. If I were to stay out of my host for too long in my current state, we would both perish,"_ the kokoro of fire revealed.

"You mean…Rita could die?" Ryo asked out of shock.

_"Only if I do not return to her body immediately,"_ the kokoro of fire explained. _"I must return to her now, otherwise the one you call Rita Niitsu will pass on to the next world long before her time."_

With that, the kokoro of fire became encased in a red light and took off in the air like a rocket. Ryo put away his katanas and watched intently as the kokoro of fire disappeared over the treetops.

"I better go, too. I just hope that Rita and the others are all right," Ryo muttered worriedly to himself as he ran through the park, towards where he had last seen his friends before he got separated from them…

"Rita! Come on, snap out of it!" Sandra pleaded as she loudly snapped her fingers just inches away from Rita's face, only to get no response from her.

"It's like the lights are on, but no one's home!" Kim remarked sarcastically as she waved her hand in front of Rita's eyes.

"Look, up there!" Mia gasped as she pointed up at the sky.

Sandra, Kim, Clara, and Roxie looked up and gasped when they recognized the kokoro of fire heading back towards them, encased in a red light. The five girls stepped back as the kokoro of fire dove down towards Rita and became absorbed into her body. Immediately after the kokoro had vanished, the red light that encased Rita instantly faded away, including the kanji of Virtue that was on Rita's forehead.

"Rita!" Clara gasped loudly when Rita collapsed to the ground.

"Rita, are you all right?" Roxie asked out of concern as she and Kim quickly lifted Rita up into a sitting position.

Rita moaned slightly as her brown eyes slowly fluttered open. "Urhm…what happened?" Rita murmured drowsily as she looked around at her concerned friends.

"Rita, are you okay?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Yeah, I think so," Rita muttered out loud.

"What the hell happened to ya, girl?" Kim asked. "Talking to ya was like talking to a brick wall!"

"I could hear you, but…it was like I was in some sort of trance. I couldn't even move at all," Rita explained. "I'll have to admit, even after everything we've seen so far, that was pretty weird!"

Suddenly, Wildfire mysteriously appeared onto the field where Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen were still battling their evil counterparts.

"We have to leave now!" Wildfire announced, catching Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata by surprise.

"What for, Wildfire?" Hardrock asked suspiciously.

"I'll explain it later. Now, I order you all to fall back," Wildfire ordered.

"This had better be good, Wildfire," Halo grumbled angrily as he, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata reluctantly stepped back and teleported away, along with Wildfire.

"What was that all about?" Sage wondered aloud as he put his sword back in his sheath.

"Good question, Sage. Wish I knew the answer," Rowen confessed as he put away his bow.

"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice shouted. Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Ryo running towards them.

"Hey, Ryo!" Kento greeted as Ryo approached them. "What happened to you, man? You look like you've been in a dog fight!"

"I'll explain later, Kento. Where's Rita?" Ryo asked curiously.

"She's over there with the other girls," Cye replied as he pointed to the other side of the park, where the six girls were huddled together. "Why do you ask?"

"Later, Cye. I gotta see if Rita's all right," Ryo interrupted as he ran over to where the six girls were.

"Why the sudden concern about Rita?" Sage asked curiously.

"I don't know, Sage, but let's go find out," Rowen suggested as he, Sage, Kento, and Cye ran after Ryo…

"Look, there's Ryo!" Mia announced when she saw the leader of the Ronin Warriors running towards her, Rita, Sandra, Clara, Kim, and Roxie.

"Looks like the kokoro of fire did her job, whatever it was," Sandra muttered out loud.

"Is it just me, or it is getting hotter all of a sudden?" Clara asked curiously as she wiped away the beads of sweat that were starting to form on her forehead.

"It's not just you, chica. I'm feeling the heat, too," Roxie admitted as she, Kim, Sandra, and Mia felt a strange wave of heat that was getting even hotter.

"Damn! Somebody betta turn down the heat!" Kim complained loudly.

"I think that the heat is coming from Ryo's armor," Mia theorized. "The heat's getting more intense as he gets closer."

"If I were y'all, I'd make like an eighteen-wheeler and back it up!" Kim remarked as she backed away from Ryo, along with Mia, Clara, Sandra, and Roxie.

"Rita! Rita, are you all right?" Ryo asked out of concern as he came to Rita's side, who was sitting up on her own.

"I'm fine, Ryo, now that you're here," Rita admitted with a small smile. "You know, the strangest thing just happened to me…"

"I know, Rita. The kokoro of fire explained everything to me," Ryo whispered softly as he gently cupped Rita's chin in his armor-clad hand.

"I don't understand this. Rita doesn't seem to be affected at all by the heat coming from Ryo's armor," Mia muttered thoughtfully.

"It must be the kokoro of fire. She must be protecting Rita from the heat," Roxie theorized.

"Hey, Ryo!" Rowen shouted as he, Sage, Kento, and Cye finally caught up with Ryo, who was just helping Rita up to her feet.

"What's the deal, Ryo? What's going on?" Kento asked curiously.

"I'll explain everything later, guys. We better leave now, before those imposters decide to come back for a sneak attack," Ryo suggested.

"Yeah, good idea, Ryo," Sage agreed. "We're all pretty beat."

"Not me! I can take them all on myself!" Kento boasted.

"Yeah, right," Cye retorted under his breath. The five Ronin Warriors quickly called back their armors, leaving them back in their normal clothes.

"I must be going, too. I have to go to the storage warehouse and get everything set so my belongings will be delivered to the airport tomorrow, when my flight leaves," Mia announced.

"Umm…Mia? I know I don't know you very well, and you don't know me very well, either, but…would you like to come over to my house tonight for dinner? That is, if you don't have any plans?" Rita offered.

"Well…all right, Rita. That would be nice," Mia admitted. "How do I get to your house?"

"The directions are kinda confusing. I have a better idea," Rita muttered thoughtfully. "How about you pick up Ryo and he can give you directions to my house? You can come to dinner, too, Ryo, if you want."

"Sounds good, Rita," Ryo agreed. "You can pick me up around six, Mia."

"All right, Ryo. I guess I'll see you two later tonight. I got to be going now. Goodbye, everyone," Mia announced as she turned around and walked down the path towards one of the park exits.

"Goodbye, Mia! It was nice meeting you!" Rita shouted.

"Speaking of which, we should be doing the same," Ryo admitted.

"Right, Ryo," Sage agreed as the ten friends walked down the path in the opposite direction that Mia took.

As they walked along the dirt path, Sandra noticed that Ryo and Rita were openly holding hands. "Looks like Ryo made his choice," Sandra muttered to herself with a small smile, unaware that Kim overheard her.

"Whatcha talking 'bout, Sandra?" Kim asked curiously.

"I'll tell ya later, Kim," Sandra replied…

"I am very disappointed in you all!" Dulcea stated coldly with a hint of anger in her voice. She was sitting on her ebony-carved throne, with Devaki standing by her side. She was glaring angrily at the five Ronin clones, who were all leaning on their knees in front of her in a row, their heads looking down at the floor.

"You had the upper hand in this battle and you fell back? Why did you pathetic excuses for warriors make such a distasteful retreat?" Dulcea demanded loudly.

"It wasn't our fault, Lady Dulcea," Halo claimed.

"Yeah, you can blame our fearless leader for that!" Hardrock remarked sarcastically as he glared at Wildfire.

"I demand an explanation, Wildfire," Dulcea stated icily.

"My apologies, Lady Dulcea, but…something happened during my battle with Ryo of Wildfire, and I felt it was best to make a hasty retreat," Wildfire revealed solemnly.

"What exactly happened during that battle, Wildfire?" Dulcea asked curiously.

"I saw the kokoro of fire…outside of her human host," Wildfire reluctantly admitted. "She merged with the armor of Wildfire, which gave Ryo of Wildfire tremendous strength, even though at that point, he was down for the count."

"I feared something like this would eventually happen," Dulcea murmured a bit worriedly.

"If the other kokoro recover their powers, just as the kokoro of fire did, I'm afraid that the kokoro and the Ronin Warriors will be unstoppable," Devaki realized.

"I'm well aware of that, Devaki," Dulcea stated as she looked back up at her evil Ronin clones. "The only way to prevent the remaining kokoro from getting any stronger is to destroy them before that happens."

"But, Lady Dulcea, it'll be difficult to do so, since the Ronin Warriors are always around to protect the kokoro," Strata reminded Dulcea.

"Then I suggest you attack the kokoro when they're alone and more vulnerable," Dulcea stated coldly.

"Yes, Lady Dulcea. We will not fail you again," Wildfire pledged.

"For your sake, Wildfire, you better not. You are all dismissed," Dulcea announced…

"So, everything's settled now, Mia?" Rowen asked curiously. The ten teens and Mia were all at Toyama Airport, sitting in the lobby by the boarding gate for Mia's flight to Los Angeles.

"Yes, Rowen. Everything's being shipped to Los Angeles on a freight ship, which will arrive there in about four weeks," Mia replied.

"It was nice to finally meet you, Mia. I hope you come back soon for a visit," Roxie confessed.

"Well, as soon as my schedule opens up again, I definitely will," Mia admitted.

"Umm…Mia? Before you go, could I talk to you in private?" Ryo requested.

"All right," Mia agreed as both she and Ryo got up from their seats and walked over to the other end of the lobby. "What did you want to talk to me about, Ryo?" Mia asked curiously as they sat down in empty seats.

"I just wanted to know if everything's still cool between us, Mia," Ryo inquired.

"Yes, of course, Ryo. Why wouldn't it be?" Mia asked curiously.

"I just wanted to know, because of what we talked about last night on the ride to Rita's house…" Ryo trailed off.

"Ryo, I understand the confusion about what was going on between us during your battle with Talpa and the Evil Dynasty," Mia admitted. "You did have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, being the leader of the Ronin Warriors and all, you tended to take the blame whenever something bad happened, and you became physically drained when you first used the armor of Inferno. I guess, because of that, I was more concerned about you than the others."

"I guess I read into that extra attention all wrong, huh, Mia?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, Ryo. I'm sorry. I should have treated you no differently than the other Ronin Warriors," Mia apologized.

"I should be the one apologizing, Mia. I was way off about your actions during that time," Ryo confessed. "It's kinda funny, though. For a while, I thought that maybe…"

"That maybe I loved you?" Mia hesitantly asked. Ryo slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"Actually, I do love you, Ryo…but not in the way you think. I love you as a friend, and that's a completely different kind of love. Not like the love that you and Rita share with each other," Mia revealed.

"How did you know?" Ryo asked curiously. "I don't remember telling you, Mia."

"No one needed to tell me anything, Ryo. I could tell," Mia admitted as she looked up at Ryo and smiled slightly at him. "You two obviously care about each other a lot, and by that, I mean more than just friends. Rita seems like a really nice girl, Ryo. I wish you two the best of luck."

"Attention, Flight 377 for Los Angeles, California, will be leaving in five minutes. All passengers please report to the boarding gate immediately," a man's voice announced over the airport's intercom system.

"Well, that's my flight," Mia reluctantly confessed as she and Ryo stood up. "It was good seeing you again, Ryo, and Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen, as well. I also enjoyed meeting the girls, too."

"It was good seeing you, too, Mia," Ryo admitted. "I'm glad that everything's been straightened out between us."

"Same here, Ryo," Mia agreed. "Promise you'll write to me?"

"Yeah, of course, Mia," Ryo replied. "We're still friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, we are, Ryo. We're just good friends," Mia pointed out as they walked back to where their friends were waiting for them. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now," Mia announced as she picked up her carryon bag.

"Goodbye, Mia. Hope to see you again soon," Rita openly confessed.

"I'll try, Rita. Goodbye, everyone," Mia replied solemnly. The ten teens waved to Mia as she walked to the boarding gate for her flight…TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
